Campaigning for the fifth phase of Lok Sabha polls to 14 constituencies of central Uttar Pradesh will end on Saturday evening.
Polling in these constituencies will be held on May 6.
Important seats going to poll in this phase are Nehru-Gandhi pocket borough of Amethi-Rae Bareli and state capital Lucknow along with Dhaurahra, Sitapur, Mohanlalganj, Banda, Fatehpur, Kaushambi, Barabanki, Faizabad, Bahraich, Kaiserganj and Gonda. A total of 182 candidates are in the fray in this phase. As many as 2.47 crore voters, including 1.14 crore females, will cast their votes at 28,072 booths.
Amethi has the highest number of 27 candidates in the fray followed by 15 each in Lucknow, Rae Bareli and Gonda, 13 each in Barabanki and Faizabad, 12 each in Kaushambi, Kaiserganj and Mohanlalganj, 10 each in Bahraich and Fatehpur and eight each in Banda and Dhaurahra.
All major contenders — BJP, BSP-SP-RLD alliance and Congress — carried out intense campaigning in the 14 constituencies going to polls in the fifth phase.
The fate of Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh (Lucknow), Congress chief Rahul Gandhi and Union Textiles Minister Smriti Irani (both from Amethi) along with UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi (Rae Bareli), will be decided in this phase.
Former Union minister Jitin Prasada (Dhaurahra) and former UP Congress chief Nirmal Khatri (Faizabad) are also in the fray in the fifth phase.
Campaigning in the Nehru-Gandhi bastion of Rae Bareli-Amethi witnessed a roadshow and street corner meetings by Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, who is holding the fort for her mother and brother. Rahul and Sonia too are campaigning in their constituencies frequently.
Sonia has not campaigned anywhere in the country except for Rae Bareli, while Priyanka too is focusing in UP only. Several other senior Congress leaders from across the country also made their presence felt in Amethi and Rae Bareli.
The BJP continued its campaigning in a big way in this phase too and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP chief Amit Shah, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and several Union ministers and leaders campaigned in almost all 14 constituencies.
Modi addressed meetings in Sitapur, Banda, Kaushambi, Bahraich and Barabanki in this phase while Shah addressed meetings in Barabanki, Bahraich and Mohanlalganj and in Lucknow on Friday. Yogi also addressed meetings in almost all constituencies.
The SP-BSP-RLD alliance held joint rallies in Barabanki and Sitapur while they campaigned in several constituencies separately. Campaigning in Lucknow constituency has been electrifying with several film actors seeking vote for SP candidate Poonam Sinha. Her husband Shatrughan Sinha and daughter and cine star Sonakshi Sinha campaigned in Lucknow.