Over 46 per cent polling was recorded till 3 pm on Sunday in the fifth phase of Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls for 61 seats spread across 12 districts. Polling has been peaceful so far barring in Pratapgarh's Kunda assembly seat where SP candidate Gulshan Yadav's convoy was allegedly attacked by some people, police said. Party workers claimed that Yadav sustained minor injuries in the attack.
SP state president Naresh Uttam and national spokesperson Rajendra Chowdhury have given a written complaint regarding the Kunda incident to the Election Commission. According to the Election Commission of India's voter turnout app, the polling percentage till 3 pm is 46.28. The voting started at 7 am and will continue till 6 pm. Around 2.24 crore people are eligible to vote in this phase.
While Amethi recorded 46.35 per cent voting, Ayodhya saw 50.60 per cent, Bahraich 48.66 per cent, Barabanki 45.55 per cent, Chitrakoot 51.67 per cent, Gonda 46.706 per cent, Kaushambi 48.70 per cent, Pratapgarh 44.46 per cent, Prayagraj 44.29 per cent, Raebareli 48.86 per cent, Shrawasti 49.38 per cent and Sultanpur 46.47 per cent, it said. As many as 692 candidates are in the fray in this round, including Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya who is contesting from Sirathu in Kaushambi district. He is pitted against Apna Dal (Kamerawadi) candidate Pallavi Patel.
Some of the ministers in the fray are Siddharth Nath Singh from Allahabad West, Rajendra Singh from Patti (Pratapgarh), Nand Gopal Gupta Nadi from Allahabad South and Ramapati Shastri from Mankapur (Gonda). Raghuraj Pratap Singh, alias Raja Bhaiya, who is the MLA from Kunda since 1993, is once again in the fray as the Jansatta Dal candidate, with his former aide Gulshan Yadav contesting against him on the Samajwadi Party ticket.
Union minister Anupriya Patel's mother and Apna Dal (K) leader Krishna Patel is contesting from the Pratapgarh seat. The Apna Dal (K) has entered into an alliance with the Samajwadi Party. Union minister Patel, heading a rival faction of the party named after her father Sonelal Patel, however, has handed over the seat to the BJP to challenge her mother Krishna Patel. Congress Legislature Party leader Aradhana Mishra Mona is fighting from Rampur Khas of Pratapgarh. With the completion of polling on Sunday, Uttar Pradesh will have voted on 292 of the total 403 seats in the Assembly. The last two phases of the elections will be held on March 3 and 7. The results will be declared on March 10.
With PTI Inputs
