Lucknow, May 25 (UNI) An average 54.03 percent of 2.7 crore voters have cast their votes till 6 pm in 14 Lok Sabha Constituencies in the sixth phase of the election in Uttar Pradesh held amid tight security arrangements on Saturday, a senior poll officer said here.
UP Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Navdeep Rinwa said that the polling which was held between 7 am to 6 pm was by and large peaceful and no untoward incident was reported from anywhere.
“Constituency wise, 55.5 percent of votes were polled in Sultanpur, 51.6 percent in Pratapgarh, 48.94 percent in Phulpur, 61.54 percent in Ambedkar Nagar, 52.76 percent in Shrawasti, 52.64 percent in Sant Kabir Nagar, 54.14 percent in Lalganj, 56.07 percent in Azamgarh, 55.25 percent in Jaunpur, 54.43 percent in Machhlishahr and 53.17 percent in Bhadohi,” he said.
He said that besides 14 Lok Sabha seats, by-poll for Gainsari assembly seat in Balrampur district, which fell vacant due to the demise of sitting SP MLA Dr SP Yadav, was also held.
He said that 14 parliamentary constituencies where polling was held were spread over 15 districts including Sultanpur, Pratapgarh, Prayagraj, Ambedkar Nagar, Ayodhya, Balrampur, Shravasti, Siddharth Nagar, Basti, Sant Kabir Nagar, Gorakhpur, Azamgarh, Jaunpur, Varanasi and Bhadohi.
The CEO said that in this phase over 2.7 crore voters including 1.43 crore male and 1.27 crore female, were eligible to decide the fate of 162 candidates comprising 146 male and 16 female. “The polling was held at 28,171 polling booths spread over 17,113 polling stations,” he said.
Rinwa said that to maintain a close vigil, the Election Commission had deployed 3 special observers, along with 14 normal, 8 police and 18 expenditure observers. “For law and order 2,192 sector magistrates, 282 zonal magistrates and 24 static magistrates were deployed. Besides, to assist the observers 2,833 micro observers were deployed,” he said.
Meanwhile, police sources said that 8,840 Inspectors and Sub Inspectors, along with 68,191 head constables and constables, 48,091 Home Guards, 49 companies of PAC and 229 companies of CAPF were deployed to ensure free and fair elections. “As a force multiplier 18,862 village chowkidars and 443 PRD jawans were also deployed,” the sources said.
In 2019 Lok Sabha polls, out of these 14 seats ruling BJP won 9 seats including Sultanpur, Pratapgarh, Basti, Allahabad, Domariyaganj, Sant Kabir Nagar, Bhadohi and Machhlishahr.
Later the ruling BJP won the Azamgarh Lok Sabha seat in 2022 by-election when its candidate Dinesh Lal Yadav ‘Nirahua’ defeated Dharmendra Yadav, SP candidate and cousin of party chief Akhilesh Yadav.
Akhilesh won the seat in 2019 Lok Sabha election, but he resigned after he was elected as MLA from Karhal seat in Mainpuri and opted to become the Leader of the Opposition Party in the UP Legislative Assembly.
In Sultanpur, BJP’s sitting MP Maneka Gandhi is facing Ram Bhual Nishad of SP and Uday Raj Verma of Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP). In Pratapgarh, the sitting BJP MP Sangam Lal Gupta is taking on SP’s Shiv Pal Singh Patel.
The prestigious seat of Allahabad is witnessing a close contest between Neeraj Tripathi, who is son of veteran BJP leader and West Bengal Governor Kehsari Nath Tipathi and Ujjwal Rewati Raman Singh, who is son of senior SP leader Rewati Raman Singh. Ujjwal left SP ahead of the polls and joined Congress.
In Ambedkar Nagar, the BJP’s sitting MP Ritesh Pandey is facing SP’s Lalji Verma. Pandey won the seat as Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) candidate in 2019.
In Domariyaganj, BJP MP Jagdambika Pal is facing a close contest against Bhishma Shankar Tiwari of the SP and Khwaja Shamsuddin of the BSP. It may be mentioned that Bhishma Shankar alias Kushal Tiwari is son of former Minister and heavyweight Hari Shankar Tiwari.
In Jaunpur, former minister of Maharashtra and BJP candidate Minister Kripashankar Singh is facing a challenge from Babu Singh Kushwaha of the SP and Shyam Singh Yadav of the BSP. Babu Singh Kushwaha faces corruption charges in National Rural Health Mission and his candidature is being opposed by local SP leaders.
In Bhadohi, Vinod Kumar Bind from the BJP locked in a direct battle against Lalitesh Pati Tripathi of Trinamool Congress. While Bind is the sitting MP, Tripathi is grandson of former UP CM Kamla Pati Tripathi.
