60% polling recorded for Phase 4 of UP elections

Lucknow, Feb 24: A voter turnout of 60.1% was recorded on Wednesday during the fourth phase of polling across 59 constituencies in Uttar Pradesh, with Lakhimpur Kheri, where eight people were killed in violence last year, witnessing the maximum turnout, data released by the Election Commission showed at 11 pm.

 

 

 

A total of 624 candidates are in the fray in this round of voting, which was held from 7 am till 6 pm, covering a large part of central Uttar Pradesh, including Lucknow. A total of six central Uttar Pradesh districts went to the polls this time along with one district each in Bundelkhand, Rohilkhand, and eastern Uttar Pradesh.

 

 

 

Pilibhit, Sitapur, Hardoi, Unnao, Raebareli, Banda and Fatehpur were among the districts where voting was held. “Voting started at 7 am and lasted till 6 pm. As per reports received from districts concerned, 60.01% voters exercised their franchise on Wednesday,” he said. While Pilibhit recorded a turnout of 61.42%, Sitapur saw a turnout of 58.30%.

At 57.73%, Unnao registered the lowest turnout. Lucknow recorded a polling percentage of around 61%, the highest for the first time since the 1952 elections, district magistrate and district election officer Abhishek Prakash said. Hardoi registered a voting percentage of 58.99%, Raebareli 60.22%, Banda 57.48% and Fatehpur 60.7%.

 

 

Meanwhile, the polling booth at Ganeshpur village in Dhaurahra constituency of the district received poor response from women voters. As many as 1,500 women were eligible to cast their vote in this village. Their participation, however, has remained negligible over the years and less than 50 women cast their votes on Wednesday.

In 2017, the district authorities had made several efforts to mobilise the women voters, following which over a dozen women turned up at the polling booths. Only 85 women voters cast their ballots in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.