UP Assembly elections: Sixth phase of polling begins, Yogi in fray

Lucknow, March 3, 2022

Voting began this morning amidst tight security in the sixth phase of polling in the elections to the 403-member Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly.

As many as 57 constituencies spread accross ten districts went to the polls today.

The districts where polling is being held on Thursday are Ambedkar Nagar, Balrampur, Siddharth Nagar, Basti, Sant Kabir Nagar, Maharajganj, Gorakhpur, Kushinagar, Deoria and Ballia.

The 57 constituencies have a total electorate of 2.15 crore, including 1.15 crore men, 1 crore women and 1,363 electors of the third gender.

There are a total of 676 candidates in the fray, incuding 66 women, for these 57 seats.

The Election Commission has set up 25,326 polling booths in 13,936 polling stations for this phase of polling.

IANS adds:

In this round, the polls will seal the fate of political heavyweights such as chief minister Yogi Adityanath, UP Congress president Ajay Kumar Lallu and former minister Swami Prasad Maurya.

These 57 assembly segments, of which 11 are reserved, are particularly crucial for the BJP.

In the 2017 assembly polls, it had won 46 of the 57 seats.

Among the 676 candidates in the fray this time are Yogi Adityanath from Gorakhpur. He is contesting his first assembly polls.

The Samajwadi Party has pitted the widow of late Upendra Dutt Shukla, a former BJP leader, against Adityanath. Azad Samaj Party founder Chandrashekhar Azad is also contesting against the chief minister.

UPCC president Ajay Kumar Lallu from Tamkuhi Raj seat and Swami Prasad Maurya, who quit as BJP minister to join the Samajwadi Party, from Fazilnagar, are other prominent candidates in this phase.

Leader of Opposition in the outgoing assembly and Samajwadi Party leader Ram Govind Chaudhary is contesting from Bansdih.

Many incumbent ministers' electoral fate will also be decided in this phase. They include Surya Pratap Shahi from Pathardeva seat, Satish Chandra Dwivedi from Itwa, Jai Pratap Singh from Bansi, Shree Ram Chauhan from Khajani and Jai Prakash Nishad from Rudrapur.

Surendra Singh, the incumbent MLA who joined the Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP), after being denied ticket by BJP is challenging BJP minister Anand Swarup Shukla from Bairia in Ballia.

Over 868 companies of central paramilitary forces and state armed police, over 1.27 lakh civil police personnel, home guards and Prantiya Rakshak Dal (PRD) jawans and village guards, to ensure a free and fair poll today.

NNN