55.56 per cent of 2.62 crore voters exercised their franchise

Around 55.56 per cent of 2.62 crore voters exercised their franchise for 15 seats in the fifth phase the elections for which passed off peacefully in Uttar Pradesh on Wednesday. The Election Commission officials claimed that the polling was peaceful and no untoward incident was reported from anywhere.  Polling on all the 15 seats, spread over 17 districts, started smoothly at 7 am and ended at 6 pm with around 56 per cent of the voters exercising their franchise. Polling percentage in two Assembly by-elections for Rampur Khas and Vishwanathganj seats in Pratapgarh was also around 50 per cent.

Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi, TV star and Rajya Sabha member Smriti Irani of the BJP, poet Kumar Viswas of the AAP (all three from Amethi), BJP general secretary Varun Gandhi (Sultanpur), Union Steel Minister and Congress candidate, Beni Prasad Verma (Gonda), UP Congress president Nirmal Khatri (Faizabad), and cricketer-turned politician and Congress candidate Mohammad Kaif (Phulpur) were the prominent candidates among 243 whose fate was sealed in the EVMs in the fifth phase elections.  Among the candidates, 21 were women and one belonged to the third category.

Barring some allegations and counter-allegations in Amethi, no such charges of rigging was reported from anywhere in the state. While polling percentage in 15 lS seat was 11.35 per cent at 9 am, 25.18 per at 11 am, 36.15 at 1 pm, 44.22 per cent at 3 pm and 51.49 per cent at 5 pm. Amethi polled 55.20 per cent votes, Sultanpur 57, 20 per cent,   Pratapgarh 53.10  per cent, Kaushambi 52.60 per cent, Phulpur 54.06 per cent, Allahabad 55, 80 per cent, Faizabad 57, 60 per cent, Ambedkarnagar 59, 80  per cent, Bahraich 56.60 per cent, Kaiserganj 55.10 per cent, Shravasti 55, 54 per cent, Gonda 53.80 per cent, Basti 57.84 per cent, Sant Kabir Nagar 54.80 per cent and Bhadohi 54.40 per cent polling. 

Voter turnout in the Assembly bypoll for Vishwanathganj and at Rampur Khas seats in Pratapgarh district was 52 per cent each.Polling percentage in UP decreased as the election was in progress for the fifth phase. While in the first phase in 10 seats, it was 64.38 per cent, it came down to 61.94 in the second phase in 11 seats and to 60.12 per cent in the third phase in 12 seats. In the fourth phase, the voting percentage was just 59.06 per cent in 14 seats. In the 2009, lok Sabha elections, the average polling percentage in these 15 seats was 43.37 while during the 2012 Assembly elections, it was 57.33 per cent. Reports also said that a SP candidate of Pratapgarh Pramod Patel had thrashed a presiding officer at Sangipur booth but officials denied the incident. BJP candidate from Sultanpur Varun Gandhi also had a verbal dispute with some security personnel at the polling booth. 

Chief Electoral Officer Umesh Sinha told reporters here on Wednesday evening that they had recrived 246 complaints of rigging and other irregularities, mostly from Amethi, Basti,Sultanpur,  Pratapgarh and Allahabad, but most of them were found to be baseless.Sinha denied reports of rigging of polls in Amethi as alleged by AAP and BJP candidates. He said voters of Chabsausi village in Phoolpur boycotted the election.   

Except for some early technical problems in the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) at a few polling booths, the process completed on a smooth note.  In some rural and urban booths, voters were seen at the booths even before 7 am. long queues were seen within 30 minutes as the polling started but later the voting process slowed down. The polling officials first went for a mock drill of voting before agents of candidates and thereafter the polling started. Due to searing weather, voters tried to reach the booths as early as possible to avoid the scorching heat wave conditions. According to reports from Allahabad, Amethi, Faizabad, Gonda, Pratapgarh, long queues were seen at most of the polling booths manned by armed Central forces.  Altogether there were around 2.62 crore electorate in this phase including 1.42 crore male and 1.19 crore females. There would be 25,965 polling booths in this phase in which 3715 booths are identified as critical.