Voting for the seventh and final phase of the assembly elections in India’s largest state Uttar Pradesh will be held tomorrow i.e. on March 7. Voting will be held in 54 seats of the assembly including Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s parliamentary constituency Varanasi. Data from the Election Commission shows that the fate of 613 candidates will be decided in the last phase of polling.
campaigning for last stage ended on Saturday. This time, issues like Kovid-19 epidemic, law and order, farmers’ protest and economic and security situation dominated the assembly elections.
Voting Schedule:
Voting will start from 7 am and will continue till 6 pm. The districts where polling is to be held on March 7 include Azamgarh, Mau, Jaunpur, Ghazipur, Chandauli, Varanasi, Mirzapur, Bhadohi and Sonbhadra.
Counting of votes:
The voting exercise in the politically important state of UP lasted for nearly a month. Voting began on February 10, while the counting of votes will take place on February 10.
Read also: UP Election Phase 7: BJP confident of retaining power in four states, impressive lead in Punjab
Seventh phase polling:
A total of 54 seats will go to polls in the seventh phase of polling. Of these, 11 are reserved for Scheduled Castes and two for Scheduled Tribes. Around 2.06 voters will exercise their franchise in the coming phase of UP elections.
The last phase of polling will be crucial as it will test the alliance forged by the largest parties – BJP and SP – with regional parties.
High-Pitch Pole Campaign:
The final phase of campaigning in Uttar Pradesh reached its zenith with Prime Minister Narendra Modi launching a mega election campaign in his constituency Varanasi and adjoining districts. He also did many road shows. In the final phase of the election campaign, political stalwarts like West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee were in favor of Akhilesh Yadav and his RLD ally Jayant Choudhary.
Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra also spent nearly four days alone in Varanasi. BSP supremo Mayawati also campaigned in the district and surrounding areas.
Voting equation:
BJP allies Apna Dal (Sonelal) and Nishad Party and new friend of SP chief Akhilesh Yadav Apna Dal (K), Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP) Om Prakash Rajbhar and others are trying to rally their supporters.
The region, once considered an SP stronghold, had led the BJP in 2017 by winning 29 seats along with its allies Apna Dal (four) and SBSP (three).
Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) got six and SP got 11 seats. SP patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav made a rare appearance in Jaunpur to garner support for Lucky Yadav, son of his longtime colleague late Parasnath Yadav. Malhani is in the fray from the seat.
with PTI input
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