Uttar Pradesh Assembly Elections 2024: State records 58% voter turnout in 5th phase | Representative Image
Lucknow: Around 58 per cent voter turnout was recorded in the fifth phase of Lok Sabha elections held in 14 constituencies in 21 districts of Uttar Pradesh on Monday. The Lucknow East by-election also recorded a turnout of 52.45%.
UP Chief Electoral Officer Navdeep Rinwa predicted that the turnout at this stage would be slightly higher than the 58.38% recorded in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections and could increase by 0.5%. He said there was.
In the 2019 elections, the BJP won 13 of these 14 seats, with the exception of Rae Bareli, which was won by Congress leader Sonia Gandhi. The constituencies in this phase include Mohanlalganj, Lucknow, Rae Bareli, Amethi, Jalaun, Jhansi, Hamirpur, Banda, Fatehpur, Barabanki, Kaushambi, Faizabad, Kaiserganj and Gonda.
Mr Linwa confirmed that voting was largely peaceful and no major incidents were reported. However, more than 100 complaints were received regarding faulty EVMs, allegations of fake votes, slow voting and discrimination against voters by polling staff.
In Fatehpur, Bharatiya Janata Party candidate and Union Minister of State Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti reported an alleged attack by Samajwadi Party (SP) workers in Jahanabad. She alleged that her SP workers tried to attack her while she was visiting a polling station in her area.
A notable achievement was that three polling stations in Mehrauni assembly seat in Lalitpur district, which is part of Jhansi Lok Sabha seat, recorded 100 per cent voter turnout. This was facilitated by the special efforts of the district election officer, who also paid for a flight from Mumbai to Bhopal for one voter.
Voting began at 7 a.m. and ended at 6 p.m. Uttar Pradesh has the highest representation in the 543-member parliament and is one of the few states, along with West Bengal and Bihar, to hold voting at all stages of the election.
On the important polling day in Rae Bareli, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi actively participated in the election process. He offered prayers at Peepaleshwar Hanuman temple and inspected the polling booth. Mr Gandhi, who is also contesting from Wayanad in Kerala, arrived in Rae Bareli after landing at Lucknow airport earlier in the day.
A historically important constituency, Rae Bareli was the stronghold of the Gandhi family. Sonia Gandhi, who is currently a member of Rajya Sabha, was a member of Rae Bareli before being transferred to the Upper House earlier this year.
Prominent leaders such as Rajnath Singh and Smriti Irani also cast their votes at this stage, including in constituencies with important political stakes. Former Union minister Pradeep Jain Aditya is representing the Congress in Jhansi while former SP state president Naresh Uttam Patel is contesting from Fatehpur.
Karan Bhushan Singh, son of Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, is the BJP candidate from Kaiserganj. Other notable candidates include Tanuj Punia from Barabanki, Shreya Verma from Gonda and Pushpendra Saroj from Kaushambi.
The BJP has fielded 11 sitting councilors and has new candidates in Barabanki and Kaiserganj. The SP is contesting her 10 seats while India bloc partner Congress is contesting her four seats. The BSP is contesting all her 14 seats on its own, leading to a triangular contest in these constituencies.
