LUCKNOW : The state of Uttar Pradesh is voting in the fourth phase on 23 February for the ongoing seven phase Assembly elections in the state to choose a new cabinet. The Election Commission of India (ECI) informed that an average of 37.45% voting was recorded on Wednesday in the first six hours of polling.
59 Assembly constituencies in Uttar Pradesh are voting today spread over nine districts of Uttar Pradesh, the Election Commission said. The polling in the state started at 7 am and will continue till 6 pm. Elections are also going on following the Covid protocols set forth by the ECI.
Pilibhit, Lakhimpur Kheri, Sitapur, Hardoi, Unnao, Lucknow, Rae Bareli, Banda, and Fatehpur are the nine districts where polling is being held today. As many as 624 candidates are in the fray in this round of voting.
According to the ECI, Pilibhit recorded 41.23% votes, Kheri 40.90%, Sitapur 36.98%, Hardoi 34.29%, Unnao 35.01%, Lucknow 35%, Rae Bareli 40.17% , Banda 37.66% and Fatehpur 40.35%.
According to ECI officials, polling is going on peacefully. However, the Samajwadi Party has alleged certain irregularities in some areas of Lucknow, Unnao , Hardoi and Sitapur and demanded action.
Around 50.04% votes were till 1 pm in the re-polling on booth number 266 of Karhal assembly seat on the instruction of the Election Commission.
Polling in Karhal, from where SP president Akhilesh Yadav is in fray against Union minister and BJP's SP Singh Baghel, was held in the third phase on 20 February.
In Lucknow, BSP president Mayawati, state minister Brijesh Pathak, and a number of senior officials were among the early voters.
At several places, morning walkers came carrying voting slips to cast their votes as soon as the polling began.
According to the Election Commission, 2.3 crore people, including 1.14 crore men and 99.3 lakh women, are eligible to vote, for whom 24,643 polling booths and 13,817 polling centres have been set up in this phase.
Lakhimpur Kheri -- one among the nine districts up for polls -- is the place where last year four farmers were mowed down by cars allegedly carrying BJP workers. Eight people, including the farmers, were killed in the violence there on October 3.
Of the 59 seats across these districts, the BJP had won 51 in the 2017 Assembly elections, Samajwadi Party four, Bahujan Samaj Party three, and the remaining one had gone to the BJP's ally Apna Dal (Sonelal).
In 2017, 62.55% polling was reported across these seats, while in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, it was 60.03%.
Among the prominent candidates in this phase are Uttar Pradesh Law Minister Brijesh Pathak, SP's national spokesperson Anurag Bhadauria, former SP minister Abhishek Mishra, former Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly deputy speaker Nitin Agarwal and Aditi Singh.
