UP sees over 57% turnout in last phase; overall dip in polling

Voting started at 7 am and ended at 6 pm, except in Naxal-hit Chakia in Chandauli, and Robertsganj and Duddhi seats in Sonbhadra where it concluded at 4 pm. No untoward incident was reported from the state, Additional Chief Electoral Officer BDR Tiwari said.

Among the nine districts, Chandauli saw a relatively high turnout of 61.99 per cent, followed by Sonbhadra at 60.75 per cent.

Varanasi, which was the epicentre of the campaigning in the last phase recorded 58.80 per cent turnout with neighbouring Azamgarh witnessing the lowest turnout at 55.00 per cent. Bhadohi reported 56.90 per cent turnout, Ghazipur 56.54 per cent, Jaunpur 56.45 per cent, Mau 57.02 per cent, and Mirzapur 58.89 per cent.

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The final figure will be available on Tuesday, an official said.

The state has seen a decrease in voter turnout in the last three phases.

In the first six phases, the state recorded a turnout of 62.43 per cent, 64.42 per cent, 62.28 per cent, 61.52 per cent, 57.32 per cent and 55.79 per cent.

The state had recorded an overall 61.24 per cent polling in the 2017 Assembly elections.

So far, Kairana in Shamli district has the highest voting percentage of around 75 per cent, a nearly 5 percentage point increase from the previous election turnout. Sahibabad in Ghaziabad district recorded one of the lowest turnouts at 47 per cent.

Over 14.66 lakh are first-time voters this time.

Meanwhile, Bharatiya Janata Party and Samajwadi Party workers clashed in Sidhari area of Azamgarh district late Monday evening over allegations of fake voting. No one got injured in the clash, said police. No FIR was registered till the filing of the report.

In Azamgarh Sadar, former minister Durga Prasad Yadav is contesting on an SP ticket against BJP’s Akhilesh Kumar Mishra.

Another clash took police between SP and JD(U) workers in Malhani area of Jaunpur district. While it was alleged that rivals groups opened fire and one person was injured, police did not confirm it.

The fate of Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party president Om Prakash Rajbhar and several state ministers was decided in this round, in which 2.06 crore people were eligible to vote.

Besides state tourism minister Neelkanth Tiwari, who is contesting for the Varanasi South seat, other ministers in the fray in the last leg are Anil Rajbhar (Shivpur-Varanasi), Ravindra Jaiswal (Varanasi North), Girish Yadav (Jaunpur) and Ramashankar Singh Patel (Marihan-Mirzapur).

Dara Singh Chauhan, who resigned from the Yogi Adityanath cabinet and joined the Samajwadi Party, contested from the Ghosi seat in Mau.

Delegates from 32 countries watch polling live

More than 150 delegates from around 32 countries watched live-streaming of polling in Varanasi as part of the Election Commission’s virtual International Election Visitors Programme (IEVP) 2022 for Election Management Bodies (EMBs).

Addressing the delegates, Chief Election Commissioner Sushil Chandra said that despite the Covid-19 pandemic posing several logistical challenges, India has yet again successfully conducted the elections in the five states.

“The extension of postal ballot facility to senior citizens and voters with physical disability has taken the EC literally at the doorsteps of voters. Consistent efforts have led to the enthusiastic participation of women voters in these elections as compared to their male counterparts,” Chandra was quoted as saying by the EC in a statement.

—With ENS Delhi