Polling for final phase ends; 60 pc turnout in UP, Manipur records 86 pc
Polling in 40 Uttar Pradesh Assembly seats spread across seven districts and 22 constituencies in Manipur began at 7 am amid tight security.
Over 60 per cent polling was reported across 40 seats in the final phase of Uttar Pradesh assembly elections today with long queues seen outside voting stations. In Manipur, the turnout was recorded at 86 per cent across 22 seats in six districts.
Highlights:
5pm: Polling ends in UP. Over 60.03 turnout recorded
UP: 56 pc voting recorded till 4 pm
UP: 51.69 pc polling recorded till 3 pm
UP: Over 41 pc turnout recorded till 2pm
Polling ends at 3 pm in the second and last phase of Manipur. 86 per cent turnout recorded
Manipur: 78 pc polling recorded till 2pm
Uttar Pradesh: Over 38 per cent voters cast votes 1 pm
Manipur: Sixty seven per cent polling recorded till 1 PM
UP: Over 26 pc voting till 12 noon in last phase
UP: Over 13 pc voting till 10 AM in last phase
Manipur: 45 per cent turnout till 11 am
Manipur: 31 per cent votes cast till 10 am
Uttar Pradesh: 12 per cent turnout recorded in first two hours
Manipur: Home Minister Rajnath Singh asks voters to turnout in large numbers and exercise their franchise.
* PM Modi urges voters of Manipur to come out of their homes in large numbers and vote for the final phase of polling.
My party will get a clear mandate, this election is something like a referendum, both hill and the valley: Manipur CM Okram Ibobi Singh
* Manipur CM Okram Ibobi Singh casts vote at polling booth 35/41 at Athokpam Makha Leikai PO in Thoubal
* Voting begins in Manipur and Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh
Prominent candidates who are in fray include former Cabinet minister Om Prakash, Parasnath Yadav, Ajay Rai, former MP Dhananjay Singh, Sigbatullah Ansari brother of Mukhtar Ansari and Seema Singh wife of jailed mafia Munna Bajrangi.
A total of 1.41 crore voters, including 64.76 lakh women, are eligible to exercise their franchise in 14,458 polling booths and 8,682 polling centres to decide fate of 585 candidates, including 51 women. In all, 535 candidates, including BSP (40), BJP (32), SP (31), Cong (9), RLD 21, and NCP (5) are in the fray.
Three Naxal-affected districts of Sonbhadra, Mirzapur and Chandauli, along with the five Assembly segments under Varanasi Lok Sabha constituency, will be in prime focus. Ghazipur, Jaunpur and Bhadoi are the other districts where polling is going on in this phase.
Polling will be held between 7 AM to 5 PM in all constituencies, except the Naxal-hit Duddhi, Robertsganj and Chakia seats, where polling will end at 4 PM.
The BJP is contesting 32 seats and its allies - the Apana Dal and the Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party - are contesting on 4 seats each.
The BSP has fielded its nominees for all seats. While the SP is contesting 31 seats, its ally the Congress is in race for the remaining seats.
In the 2012 state Assembly polls, out of these 40 seats, 23 went to the SP, 5 to the BSP, 4 to the BJP, 3 to the Congress and 5 to others.
While the maximum number of 24 candidates are from Varanasi Cantt seat, the minimum number of 6 candidates are contesting from Kerakat (SC). The turnout on these seats in 2012 was 57.92 per cent in 2012 Assembly polls.
Manipur
An electorate of over 7.59 lakh is eligible to make their democratic choice from among 98 candidates -- four of them women -- in 1,151 polling stations spread over five districts: Thoubal, Ukhrul, Chandel, Tamenglong and Senapati.
All eyes will be on Thoubal, where CM Okram Ibobi Singh is seeking re-election as a Congress candidate in a five-cornered contest that also features human rights activist and People's Resurgence and Justice Alliance (PRAJA) nominee Irom Sharmila and Bharatiya Janata Party's Leitanthem Basanta Singh.
Sharmila, who in 2016 ended a 16-year-long fast demanding the revocation of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958, has now entered politics promising to repeal the legislation through constitutional means. Another star constituency is Nungba, from where Deputy Chief Minister Gaikhangam of Congress is in the race.
The Ibobi-led Congress has ruled Manipur for the past 15 years, with the BJP emerging as the main challenger in the ongoing elections.