UP Elections 2022: Over 55% Voting Recorded in 6th Phase

The Malhani assembly constituency in Uttar Pradesh that has been a bastion of the Samajwadi Party is witnessing a very tight contest with strongman Dhananjay Singh fighting on a Janata Dal (United) ticket against SP’s Lucky Yadav. The battle is significant because of Dhananjay, whose name has been used by SP president Akhilesh Yadav to target UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath on his claims of reining in the mafias. READ MORE

More than 55 per cent voting was recorded in the sixth phase of the Uttar Pradesh assembly polls on Thursday. The prominent faces among the 676 candidates for 57 seats spread across 10 districts in this phase included Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath from Gorakhpur Urban and state Congress president Ajay Kumar Lallu from Tamkuhi Raj. According to tentative figures updated at 7 pm, 55.79 per cent polling was recorded. In 2017 assembly polls, the turnout was 56.47 per cent in these 57 seats. The final tally will be released by the poll authorities later, officials said. With this, voting for 349 of the total 403 assembly seats has been completed. The final phase of polling in the remaining 54 seats will be held on March 7. Around 2.15 crore people were eligible to vote in this phase. The voting started at 7 am and continued till 6 pm.

The districts where polling is being held on Thursday are Ambedkarnagar, Balrampur, Siddharth Nagar, Basti, Sant Kabir Nagar, Maharajganj, Gorakhpur, Kushinagar, Deoria and Ballia. In the 2017 Assembly polls, the BJP had won 46 of the 57 seats. While Ambedkarnagar recorded 58.66 per cent voting, Ballia had 51.81 per cent, Balrampur 48.53 per cent, Basti 54.24 per cent, Deoria 51.50 per cent, Gorakhpur 53.89 per cent, Kushinagar 55.00 per cent, Mahrajganj 57.38 per cent, Sant Kabir Nagar 51.21 per cent and Siddharth Nagar 49.77 per cent. In the repolling at a polling station in Handia assembly seat in Prayagraj district, 59.55 per cent polling was recorded till 5 pm.

“You (public) have made a huge mistake by encouraging communal politics. This made politicians think they can evoke religion and caste instead of public’s issues after 5 years .’Netas’ know how to keep youth jobless & get votes on religion & caste,” said Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra in UP’s Chandauli.

Speaking at a rally in Chandauli, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said, “They (BJP leaders) are keeping people poor but their children are studying abroad and those who don’t have children, their friends are getting prosperous and are making Rs.1000 crores every day.”

A record Rs 328 crore worth of inducements to voters such as cash, liquor and narcotics have been seized in Uttar Pradesh since the announcement of the assembly poll schedule on January 8, Election Commission sources said on Thursday. The cumulative seizure of such illegal inducements in the five poll-going states — Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Manipur, Goa and Punjab — stood at Rs 1,039.50 crore, the sources said, adding that it included drugs worth Rs 571.34 crore.

Voting for the sixth phase of Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls concluded on Thursday, with over 53 per cent voter turnout recorded till 5 pm.

“It is consistently visible after every phase of UP elections that the people have decided to give a befitting reply to ‘Pariwarwadi’ parties. People in UP will celebrate Holi on March 10th (on the day of election results): PM Modi in Chandauli, Uttar Pradesh,” PM Modi said.

Ahead of the seventh phase of UP elections, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said that the Opposition remembers Maharaja Suheldev only during the elections. “We don’t do vote bank politics. We credited financial aid of govt schemes in your bank accounts directly,” he said.

“’Pariwarwadi’ parties are still stuck in their old alliances with mafias. Whereas BJP’s alliance is with the people of Uttar Pradesh. Our alliance is with those 14,000 poor families of Chandauli, whose dreams we’ve worked hard day and night to fulfil,” said PM Modi during a rally at Chandauli in Uttar Pradesh.

With Uttar Pradesh entering the seventh and last phase of Assembly elections 2022, the action has shifted to Varanasi. Top leaders across parties have camped in the holy city, which, apart from its religious significance, assumes political importance for being the Lok Sabha constituency of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Read the full story here.

“Voting is underway peacefully across all 10 districts in the state. EVM related complaints are being immediately addressed,” Additional Chief Electoral Officer, BD Ram Tiwari, at Lucknow.