UP Polls Fourth Phase: Around 60% Voter Turnout till 5 pm, PM Modi Says People Marching to Beat of BJP-NDA Victory

Around 60 per cent polling was recorded in 59 assembly constituencies during the fourth of the seven-phase elections in Uttar Pradesh on Wednesday, according to the Election Commission. The State Election Commission releases the final voting percentage a day after the polling. With the completion of the fourth round of polling, 231 assembly constituencies out of 403 in the state have been covered. The last three phases of voting will be held on February 27, March 3 and March 7. As many as 624 candidates were in the fray in this phase.

According to the app, Pilibhit recorded the highest voter turnout at 67.59 per cent, Lakhimpur Kheri at 65.54 per cent, Sitapur at 58.39 per cent, Hardoi at 58.99 per cent, Unnao at 57.73 per cent, Lucknow at 55.92 per cent, Rae Bareli at 61.90 per cent, Banda at 57.54 per cent and Fatehpur at 60.07 per cent.

While poll panel officials claimed that voting was largely peaceful, the Samajwadi Party has alleged certain irregularities in some areas of Lucknow, Unnao, Hardoi and Sitapur and demanded action. In Lucknow, BSP president Mayawati, deputy chief minister Dinesh Sharma, state minister Brijesh Pathak, and many senior officials were among early voters.

Political leaders are already campaigning for the fifth phase, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi holding a big rally in Kaushambi under Prayagraj region today. Political rival Akhilesh Yadav from the Samajwadi Party also held a rally in Gonda today.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed a political rally in Kaushambi today, as part of his campaigning for the fifth phase of the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections. He said there were long queues outside polling booths for the fourth phase of the elections today, and that people were marching to the beat of BJP-NDA victory.

“Today, the fourth phase of polling is on in Uttar Pradesh. The people of UP are marching ahead to the beat of victory of BJP and NDA. Those who think that the people of UP will be divided, to answer them, the people of UP are again standing in long queues at the polling booths today,” he added.

Kaushambi is in the Prayagraj region, which will go to polls in the fifth phase of the Uttar Pradesh elections on February 27.

Prime Minister Modi also took a dig at “dynastic politics” at Kaushambi. Referring to the recent verdict by a special court in the Ahmedabad serial bomb blast case, he said those who indulged in “parivarwad” had refrained from commenting on the “landmark verdict”. The death sentence was pronounced for 38 out of 49 convicts in the 2008 case.

Further attacking these political parties, Prime Minister Modi also said “parivarwadi” groups looted the poor’s ration but the BJP ended their game. “We brought in ‘One Nation, One Ration Card’. Now people of Kaushambi can use their ration cards anywhere in the country,” he added, as per news agency ANI.

A total of 624 candidates are in the fray for the seats spread across Pilibhit, Lakhimpur-Kheri, Sitapur, Lucknow, Hardoi, Unnao, Rae Bareli, Fatehpur and Banda districts in Rohilkhand, Terai, Awadh and Bundelkhand regions of the state and of the 59 seats, 16 are reserved. According to the Uttar Pradesh Election Watch and Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), which has analysed the self-sworn affidavits of 621 candidates out of 624, “as many as 167 (27 per cent) candidates have declared criminal cases against themselves. 129 (21 per cent) have declared serious criminal cases against themselves. Around 29 of the seats are red alert constituencies, where three or more contesting candidates have declared criminal cases against themselves.

For the BJP, which won 51 of 59 seats in the 2017 assembly polls, the challenge would be to retain its seats in the Terai region, where its Member of Parliament Varun Gandhi has trained his guns on the party’s government at the Centre and in the state. With eight seats, Lakhimpur Kheri district poses another challenge to the ruling party. Though all the seats are held by the BJP, the recent bail to Ashish Mishra, the son of Union Minister Ajay Mishra ‘Teni’, who was arrested in connection with the violence that killed eight people, including four farmers on October 3, will be the litmus test for the ruling party.

Matters are no less complicated for the Congress, which needs to retain two of the five seats in Rae Bareli as two Congress MLAs — Rakesh Singh from Harchandpur and Aditi Singh — have switched sides to the BJP. Rae Bareli is the parliamentary constituency of Congress’ interim president Sonia Gandhi, who appealed to voters to support the party on February 21.

Nine assembly seats of Lucknow will also be voted for on February 23. Eight of these seats have BJP MLAs.

The Samajwadi Party (SP) had won four of the 59 seats in 2017. The Apna Dal (S), an ally of the ruling BJP, won one, while the BSP was victorious on two seats.

In phase four, the regions are not defined by any dominant narrative, unlike phase one and two where Jat and Muslim equations were the biggest factors or phase three where large pockets were traditional Yadav strongholds. The regions in phase four have often seen a swing. In 2007, when the BSP had formed the government in the state, it too had done significantly well in the region. The same was the case in 2012.

The 59 assembly seats going to polls in the fourth phase are Pilibhit, Barkheda, Puranpur (SC), Bisalpur, Palia, Nighasan, Gola Gokarnath, Srinagar (SC), Dhaurhara, Lakhimpur, Kasta (SC), Mohammadi, Maholi, Sitapur, Hargaon (SC), Laharpur, Biswan, Sevata, Mahmudabad, Sidhauli (SC),Misrikh (SC), Sawaijpur, Shahabad, Hardoi, Gopamau (SC), Sandi (SC), Bilgram-Mallanwa, Balamau (SC), Sandila, Bangarmau, Safipur (SC), Mohan (SC), Unnao, Bhagwantnagar, Purva, Malihabad (SC), Bakshi Ka Talab, Sarojininagar, Lucknow West, Lucknow North, Lucknow East,Lucknow Central, Lucknow Cantonment, Mohanlalganj (SC), Bachhrawan (SC) , Harchandpur, Rae Bareli, Sareni, Unch Shahar, Tindwari, Baberu, Naraini (SC), Banda, Jehanabad, Bindki, Fatehpur, Ayahshah, Hussainganj and Khaga (SC).

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