57 per cent turnout was recorded on Monday in 54 assembly seats, including in Varanasi, in the seventh and last phase of Uttar Pradesh polls, marking the end of the voting process spread over two months in the crucial state.
The state has seen a decrease in voter turnout in the last three phases. In the previous six phases, the state recorded a turnout of 62.43 percent, 64.42 percent, 62.28 percent, 61.52 percent, 57.32 percent and 55.79 percent. The state had recorded 61.24 percent polling in the 2017 assembly elections.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s parliamentary constituency Varanasi – the BJP candidate here is Ravindra Jaiswal in the north – recorded 54.12%, but the highest was at Sonbhadra, which recorded 61%% voting.
Chandauli recorded 60.5% and Azamgarh 53.12%.
The rest were as follows: Jaunpur 54.22%, Ghazipur 53.95%, Mirzapur 56%, Bhadohi 56.12% andMau: 59%.
In this final phase as many as 2.06 crore eligible voters will decide the fate of 613 candidates contesting for 54 seats.
One of the most-watched candidates in this phase is former minister Om Prakash Rajbhar, who is contesting from the Zahoorabad seat. Rajbhar had won the seat in 2017 as a candidate of Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party, which was a BJP ally.
In 2017, BJP along with its allies Apna Dal and SBSP made their inroads by winning 29 seats, but this time SBSP has gone with Akhilesh. In the last election, BSP got six seats and Samajwadi Party got 11 seats.
