UP Elections 2017: 61 per cent voting in fourth phase, says ECI

"Polling was held in 53 assembly constituencies spread over 12 districts, including the backward Bundelkhand region," the office of UP Chief Electoral Officer said.

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Peoples in que to cast their votes for fourth phase polling for 2017 Uttar Pradesh Elections in Rae-Barelli on thurday.Express photo by Vishal Srivastav 23.02.2017

The fourth phase of assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh witnessed an impressive 61 per cent turnout, according to the Election Commission of India. 53 constituencies in 12 districts went for elections in phase four. The ECI said the turnout percentage is likely to touch 63 per cent as, till 5 PM, several people were still in queues waiting for their turn to vote.

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This phase of voting was crucial for the state’s ruling Samajwadi Party and main opposition BSP, both major contenders for power this time too, as they had won nearly 40 of these seats in the previous polls. “Polling was held in 53 assembly constituencies spread over 12 districts, including the backward Bundelkhand region,” the office of UP Chief Electoral Officer said.

“This phase has been extremely peaceful and for this we would like to congratulate all the citizens of the region coming out in large number to vote and also for maintain the peace and public tranquility,” Deputy Election Commissioner Vijay Dev said. He added that after the implementation of Model Code of Conduct (MCC), a total of 13.49 crores of cash and 3.26 lakhs liters of liquor worth Rs. 8.17 crore have been seized in this region.

Apart from this, a total of 112.5 crore of cash, 19.78 lakh liters of liquor worth Rs. 56. 05 crores, drugs of worth Rs. 7.41 crores and gold and silver of worth Rs. 25. 15 crores have been recovered from the state of Uttar Pradesh till now. The Deputy Election Commissioner also said that there were strict security arrangements in the region to inure free and fair election process.

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The total number of polling station was 19, 487 which were housed in 12,492 polling locations. The Voter-Verified Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) machines were also used in three constituencies i.e. North Allahabad, South Allahabad and Jhansi Nagar.

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Dev further said that the SHO and Police station in charge has been suspended after the Pre-polling incident where at least four people including Samajwadi Party candidate Siddhgopal Sahu’s son were injured after a clash between SP and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supporters broke out in Mahoba and all the people indulge in it has been taken into custody.

The constituencies where polling was held today included those in the backward Bundelkhand region and the Nehru-Gandhi pocket borough of Rae Bareli, represented in the Lok Sabha by Congress President Sonia Gandhi. For the first time since 1998, Gandhi gave campaigning a miss in her constituency.