- Over 60 percent of voter turnout was recorded till 5 pm
- A 65-year-old woman died before casting her vote at Mughalsarai assembly constituency
- The Election Commission (EC) has prohibited exit polls for the UP Polls till 5:30 pm on 9 March
- A total of 1.41 crore voters, including 64.76 lakh women, are eligible to exercise their franchise in 14,458 polling booths
- The voters list includes around 65 lakh female voters and 706 from the third gender
Over 60 percent of the 1.41 crore voters exercised their franchise in the seventh and last phase of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls in 40 seats, bringing down the curtain on a gruelling two-month-long process.
"60.03 percent votes were polled till 5 pm," Uttar Pradesh Chief Electoral Officer T Venkatesh said.
The turnout for these seats was 57.92 percent in the last Assembly polls in 2012.
The average turnout in the seven phases of polling that began on 11 February has been around 60-61 percent compared to 59.48 percent in 2012. The poll percentage in the first phase was 64.22, in the second 65.16, third phase 61.16, fourth phase 60.37, fifth phase 57.37 and sixth phase 57.03.
The counting of votes in UP will be taken up on 11 March, along with four other states – Uttarakhand, Punjab, Goa and Manipur, where Assembly polls were held.
Around 56 Percent Voting Recorded Till 4 PM in UP Phase-VII Polls
Around 56 percent of the voters exercised their franchise till 4 pm in the seventh and last phase of Uttar Pradesh elections.
All eyes are on the Assembly segments in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Lok Sabha constituency Varanasi.
“Around 56 percent votes were polled till 4 pm. The polling is going on peacefully,” according to the office of the UP Chief Electoral Officer.
Assembly constituencies in Varanasi saw 45 percent polling while the Naxal-hit Mirzapur had 47.50 percent polling till 4 pm, it said.
Polling for Alapur Seat in UP on Thursday
All preparations have been completed for polling in Alapur constituency in Ambedkar Nagar district of Uttar Pradesh on Thursday.
The voting for this reserved constituency had been postponed after SP candidate Chandrashekhar Kanaujia died of heart attack while campaigning in Ambedkar Nagar on 12 February.
The polling in the constituency was to be held on 15 February in the second phase of the seven-phased state Assembly elections.
According to the law, if a candidate of a recognised party dies, the poll is countermanded and the party is given time to field a new candidate and the polling fixed for another date.
Alapur seat is currently held by Bhim Prasad Sonkar of SP, but he was not fielded by the party this time. After the death of 40-year-old Kanaujia, the ruling Samajwadi Party has fielded his widow Sangita Chaudhary.
Besides, there are nine candidates, including those from BJP and BSP, fighting from the seat.
The Election Commission has postponed telecast of exit polls till 5:30 pm on Thursday.
Farmers Boycott Elections at Chunar
Farmers boycott the elections at polling booth number 283 of the Chunar assembly alleging lack of irrigation facilities and development.
In their pamphlets they wrote:
No matter who comes to power Sadayv Patel remains our MLA. This is an disgrace that we don’t even have a single Patel in our village but he represents us. That is the reason we are being ignored. We (farmers) have been demanding ‘40 नं कुलावा’ (reservoir) for last 25 years from our MLAs and MLPs. So our slogan is “Kaam nahi toh vote nahi” (no work no vote)