In keeping with the trend of a higher voter turnout noticed in Uttar Pradesh so far, the fourth phase of assembly polls in the state recorded over 57% polling on Sunday.
The first, second and third phases had earlier registered voting percentages of 63, 59 and 57.2, respectively. The voter turnout in 2007 was a mere 46%.
As many as 56 assembly segments spread across 11 districts, including parts of Bundelkhand and the Gandhi family strongholds of Chhatrapati Sahuji Maharaj Nagar and Rae Bareli, had come up for polling during this round. The day was incident-free.
Voting took place in the districts of Hardoi, Unnao, Lucknow, Farukkhabad, Kannauj, Banda, Chitrakoot, Fatehpur and Pratapgarh, besides Rae Bareli and parts of Chhatrapati Sahuji Maharaj Nagar.
While the polling was brisk in Chhatrapati Sahuji Maharaj Nagar and Rae Bareli, good voter turnout was also registered in Banda and Chitrakoot in the Bundelkhand region.
"As per the figures reaching us, an estimated 57.2% votes were polled for 56 seats in 11 districts as against 43.84% in 2007 polls," state chief electoral officer Umesh Sinha told newspersons on Sunday evening.
The fourth phase, which covered parts of Avadh and Bundelkhand, had seen BSP registering an impressive performance in 2007. It had bagged 25 seats five years ago, securing 30.2% votes. The Samajwadi Party could win 14 seats only, with 27.2% votes. BJP and Congress shared seven seats each.
Congress, however, came up with a much improved performance in the general election held two years later, surging ahead of its rivals in 19 assembly segment.
SP's performance was even better, as it led in 25 assembly segments in the constituencies that had gone to polls in the fourth phase, while BSP could only take the lead in six segments.
The stakes, thus, are high for Congress and SP. The Gandhi family has put in a lot of effort to sustain their party's momentum in the seats that had gone to polls during this phase.
Results of this phase of the staggered seven phase polling would decide the fate of several stalwarts, including three ministers, 32 sitting MLAs, 12 former ministers, BJP national vice-president Kalraj Mishra and Congress state president Rita Bahuguna Joshi. UP chief minister Mayawati was among the state leaders who exercised their franchise.
In the fourth phase, Kalraj Mishra, who is a Rajya Sabha member, made his debut in electoral politics from Lucknow East seat. Sunday's phase would also decide the fate of Louise Khurshid, wife of Union law minister Salman Khurshid from Farukkhabad Sadar constituency.
Congress legislative party leader Pramod Tiwari is seeking a re-run from his traditional Rampur Khas seat in Pratapgarh district.
While urban development minister Nakul Dubey has shifted to Bakshi ka Talab seat, science and technology minister Abdul Mannan is seeking re-election from Sandila seat.
"Polling for the fourth phase covering 11 districts started at 7 am amidst tight security arrangements and picked up as the day progressed," an election official said. Polling has been peaceful, he added. Polling, according to the state CEO, was held at 18,608 polling booths at 12,821 centres. A total of 3,393 polling booths were identified as sensitive and 3,623 as hyper-sensitive, he said.
Source: ET
The first, second and third phases had earlier registered voting percentages of 63, 59 and 57.2, respectively. The voter turnout in 2007 was a mere 46%.
As many as 56 assembly segments spread across 11 districts, including parts of Bundelkhand and the Gandhi family strongholds of Chhatrapati Sahuji Maharaj Nagar and Rae Bareli, had come up for polling during this round. The day was incident-free.
Voting took place in the districts of Hardoi, Unnao, Lucknow, Farukkhabad, Kannauj, Banda, Chitrakoot, Fatehpur and Pratapgarh, besides Rae Bareli and parts of Chhatrapati Sahuji Maharaj Nagar.
While the polling was brisk in Chhatrapati Sahuji Maharaj Nagar and Rae Bareli, good voter turnout was also registered in Banda and Chitrakoot in the Bundelkhand region.
"As per the figures reaching us, an estimated 57.2% votes were polled for 56 seats in 11 districts as against 43.84% in 2007 polls," state chief electoral officer Umesh Sinha told newspersons on Sunday evening.
The fourth phase, which covered parts of Avadh and Bundelkhand, had seen BSP registering an impressive performance in 2007. It had bagged 25 seats five years ago, securing 30.2% votes. The Samajwadi Party could win 14 seats only, with 27.2% votes. BJP and Congress shared seven seats each.
Congress, however, came up with a much improved performance in the general election held two years later, surging ahead of its rivals in 19 assembly segment.
SP's performance was even better, as it led in 25 assembly segments in the constituencies that had gone to polls in the fourth phase, while BSP could only take the lead in six segments.
The stakes, thus, are high for Congress and SP. The Gandhi family has put in a lot of effort to sustain their party's momentum in the seats that had gone to polls during this phase.
Results of this phase of the staggered seven phase polling would decide the fate of several stalwarts, including three ministers, 32 sitting MLAs, 12 former ministers, BJP national vice-president Kalraj Mishra and Congress state president Rita Bahuguna Joshi. UP chief minister Mayawati was among the state leaders who exercised their franchise.
In the fourth phase, Kalraj Mishra, who is a Rajya Sabha member, made his debut in electoral politics from Lucknow East seat. Sunday's phase would also decide the fate of Louise Khurshid, wife of Union law minister Salman Khurshid from Farukkhabad Sadar constituency.
Congress legislative party leader Pramod Tiwari is seeking a re-run from his traditional Rampur Khas seat in Pratapgarh district.
While urban development minister Nakul Dubey has shifted to Bakshi ka Talab seat, science and technology minister Abdul Mannan is seeking re-election from Sandila seat.
"Polling for the fourth phase covering 11 districts started at 7 am amidst tight security arrangements and picked up as the day progressed," an election official said. Polling has been peaceful, he added. Polling, according to the state CEO, was held at 18,608 polling booths at 12,821 centres. A total of 3,393 polling booths were identified as sensitive and 3,623 as hyper-sensitive, he said.
Source: ET
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