Gorakhpur lok Sabha constituency witnessed a polling percentage of 43 per cent while Phulpur saw a turnout of 37.39 per cent voters till the end of the polling at 5 pm for the by election on Sunday. Election commission said during the 2014 lok Sabha elections the voter’s turnout in Gorakhpur was 54.65 percent and 50.16 percent in Phulpur.
Election Commission said the voting for the by-elections to the two lok Sabha seats began on a dull note but picked up momentum in the day amid tight security.The fate of 32 candidates in both the lok Sabha seat were sealed in the EVMs and the counting of the votes would be held on March 14.
The Chief electoral officer (CEO) of Uttar Pradesh l Venketeshwarlu said the polling was incident free in both the lok Sabha constituencies. He said except for malfunctioning of some EVMs there was no disruption of polling process anywhere. According to Election Commission, the poll percentage till 3 pm was 35 per cent in Gorakhpur and 29 per cent in Phulpur. At 11 am in the morning the polling percentage in Gorakhpur was 16.80 per cent and in Phulpur it was 12.20 per cent.
He said 665 digital cameras were installed for keeping a watch on the polling process besides webcasting of the polling from 95 polling booths. EC had deployed 4 general observers, 2 police observers and 2 expenditure observers..
In Phulpur that due to some lapses, voters in Phaphamau assembly segment were given voters slip which shows that the polling would be held on March 11, Thursday. District authorities admitted that there was some printing mistake in which the day was printed wrong.
In Gorakhpur a 95 year old Gulam Nabi cast his vote along with 17 members of his family at Marwari Inter College both. Gulam Navi has voted in 16 lok sabha elections but this was first time he had voted in any by polls. Atiq Ahmed, the former MP from Phulpur and also the candidate in by election presently lodged in Deoria district kept a close watch on the polling process through the TV set installed in his barrack.
The by polls were necessitated after Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya vacated the Gorakhpur and Phulpur lok Sabha seats, respectively following their election to the state legislative council.
The saffron party has fielded Kaushalendra Singh Patel from Phulpur and Upendra Dutt Shukla from Gorakhpur against the SP’s Pravin Nishad and Nagendra Pratap Singh Patel respectively. The Congress has nominated Sureetha Kareem for Gorakhpur and Manish Mishra for Phulpur lok Sabha seat. Ten candidates are in the fray from Gorakhpur, while 22 candidates are contesting from Phulpur.
Apart from the Provincial Armed Constabulary and home guards, 65 companies of central paramilitary forces have been deployed to ensure peaceful by polls. In Gorakhpur parliamentary constituency, there are 970 polling centers and 2,141 polling booths, while in Phulpur, there are 793 polling centres and 2,059 polling booths.
According to the Election Commission, there 19.61 lakh voters in Phulpur parliamentary constituency, while there are 19.49 lakh electorate for Gorakhpur lok Sabha seat. As many as 4,728 Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) machines are being used in the by poll and provisions for webcasting from 95 critical booths have been made.
Gorakhpur is significant for the BJP as it is the bastion of the chief minister, who represented the seat in the lok Sabha five times. Prior to Yogi Adityanath, the seat was represented in Parliament by his mentor Yogi Avaidyanath thrice. Phulpur, once represented by India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, witnessed a saffron surge in the 2014 lok Sabha elections and Maurya won there.