Over 54 per cent polling was recorded till 5 pm on Sunday in the fifth phase of Uttar Pradesh assembly polls for 61 seats spread across 12 districts.
According to the Election Commission of India’s voter turnout app, 46.28 per cent polling was recorded till 3 pm.
The voting started at 7 am and continued till 6 pm. Around 2.24 crore people were eligible to vote in this phase.
Ayodhya, the epicentre of the Ram temple movement, and Amethi and Rae Bareli, once considered Congress bastions, were among the key assembly constituencies which went to polls in the fifth phase of polling. Apart from these, voters from districts such as Sultanpur, Chitrakoot, Pratapgarh, Kaushambi, Prayagraj, Barabanki, Bahraich, Shravasti and Gonda also cast their votes.
Polling was peaceful, barring in Pratapgarh’s Kunda assembly constituency where Samajwadi Party candidate Gulshan Yadav’s convoy was allegedly attacked by some people and the windscreen of his SUV was smashed.
Gulshan Yadav’s convoy was attacked by some people in Pahadpur Banohi area of Kunda on Sunday, police said.
Gulshan Yadav, a former associate of Kunda MLA Raja Bhaiya, claimed that he sustained minor injuries in the incident and some vehicles were damaged. Yadav is contesting from Kunda as SP candidate against Jansatta Dal candidate Raghuraj Pratap Singh alias Raja Bhaiya, a six-term MLA from Kunda. .
Circle Officer of Kunda, Ajit Kumar, said some persons attacked Yadav’s convoy when it reached Pahadpur Banohi polling centre, damaging some vehicles. Yadav’s security personnel saved him, he said, adding that a probe was underway.
Gulshan Yadav was returning after surveying booths in his assembly constituency when his car was attacked. Yadav has accused supporters of Raja Bhaiya for the attack.
Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav condemned the incident saying “smashing of vehicle’s windscreen cannot demolish the high morale of the Samajwadi Party”.
SP state president Naresh Uttam and party’s national spokesperson Rajendra Chaudhary had given a written complaint regarding the Kunda incident to the Election Commission of India.
While Amethi recorded 52.82 per cent polling, Ayodhya reported 58.01 per cent polling, Bahraich 54.68 per cent, Barabanki 54.75 per cent, Chitrakoot 59.50 per cent, Gonda 54.21 per cent, Kaushambi 56.96 per cent, Pratapgarh 50.20 per cent, Prayagraj 51.29 per cent, Rae Bareli 56.06 per cent, Shravasti 57.24 per cent and Sultanpur 54.91 per cent.
As many as 692 candidates were in the fray in this round of polls, including Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya, who is contesting from Sirathu in Kaushambi district. He is pitted against Apna Dal (Kamerawadi) candidate Pallavi Patel.
Prominent faces in the fray besides Keshav Prasad Maurya, included Sidharth Nath Singh from Allahabad West, Rajendra Singh, alias Moti Singh from Patti (Pratapgarh), Nand Gopal Gupta ‘Nandi’ from Allahabad South and Ramapati Shastri from Mankapur (Gonda) and Congress Legislative Party leader Aradhana Mishra Mona from Rampur Khas constituency of Pratapgarh.
Union Minister Anupriya Patel’s mother and Apna Dal (K) leader Krishna Patel is contesting from Pratapgarh Constituency. The Apna Dal (K) has entered into an alliance with the Samajwadi Party.
Union Minister of state Anupriya Patel, heading a rival faction of the party named after her father Sonelal Patel, however, has handed over the seat to the Bharatiya Janata Party to challenge her mother Krishna Patel.
With the completion of polling on Sunday, Uttar Pradesh will have voted on 292 of the total 403 seats in the assembly. The last two phases of the elections will be held on March 3 and 7. The results will be declared on March 10.
According to the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), Samajwadi Party has 42 candidates with criminal records out of a total number of 59 candidates in this phase. Of the 52 candidates fielded by the Bharatiya Janata Party, 25 have criminal records. Bahujan Samaj Party and Congress have fielded 23 candidates each with criminal records against their names. Ten of the 52 candidates fielded by the Aam Aadmi Party in this phase of UP elections also have criminal history.
