UP Election 2022: 57.45% voter turnout recorded till 5 pm

Till 5 pm of the fourth phase of voting for the Uttar Pradesh Assembly election, 57.45 per cent votes have been cast. 

The fourth phase of the crucial Uttar Pradesh Assembly Elections 2022, dubbed the semi-final of the 2024 Lok Sabha Elections, is taking place on Wednesday across 59 seats spread across nine districts. 

Major constituencies: Pilibhit, Lakhimpur Kheri, Sitapur, Hardoi, Unnao, Lucknow, Rae Bareli, Banda, and Fatehpur are the nine districts where voting will take place tomorrow. 

Time: The polls will open at 7 a.m. and close at 6 p.m., like in previous stages. 

Candidates in fray: The destiny of 624 candidates will be decided in this phase, according to the Election Commission of India (ECI).

Major seats: 

Lucknow Cantonment: Brijesh Pathak, a law minister in Yogi Adityanath's government, is running for the Lucknow Cantonment seat. Surendra Singh Gandhi, a two-term councillor from the Samajwadi Party, is his opponent. The BJP has fielded Pathak in place of Suresh Chandra Tiwari, who won the seat in a by-election in 2019. Pathak was elected to the Lucknow Central constituency in 2017. The BSP has fielded Anil Pandey, while the Congress has given Dilpreet Singh a ticket from the seat.

Lakhimpur Seat: The BJP has fielded Yogesh Verma for the Lakhimpur seat, which made national headlines after eight people were murdered in rioting on October 3 last year, including four farmers. Verma was elected in 2017. Given the Lakhimpur violence case, the election has become more exciting this time, with the opposition emphasising the topic repeatedly in an attempt to sway voters. Utkarsh Verma of the Samajwadi Party has been nominated for the seat. He won the seat in the 2010 byelection and the 2012 assembly election. Gyan Prakash Bajpai represents the BSP in this seat.

Rae Bareli: Aditi Singh from the Congress bastion Rae Bareli has been fielded by the BJP for the Rae Bareli seat. She won the seat in the 2017 elections and joined the BJP in November of last year. She is the daughter of Akhilesh Kumar Singh, a senior Congress leader. Dr. Manish Chauhan has been nominated by the Congress for the seat, while RP Yadav has been nominated by the SP.

Lucknow East Seat: Another BJP minister, Ashutosh Tandon, is running for the Lucknow East seat. He is running against Anurag Bhadauria, the SP's national spokesman. Kalraj Mishra of the BJP won the seat in 2012 and resigned after being elected to the Lok Sabha in 2014. Tandon then won the seat in a by-election in 2014 and was re-elected in 2017 after beating Bhadouria.

Sarojini Nagar Seat: Another assembly constituency in Lucknow, the Sarojini Nagar seat will be contested by former ED officer Rajeshwar Singh, who is being fielded by the BJP, and Abhishek Mishra, who was a minister in the Samajwadi Party administration. The BJP has fielded Rajeshwar Singh in place of Swati Singh, who had been pressing hard to run for the seat again. Swati Singh won the seat in 2017, while Sharda Pratap Shukla of the SP won it in 2012. Rudra Daman Singh has been nominated by the Congress, while Jaleesh Khan has been nominated by the BSP.

Previous results: In the 2017 Assembly elections, the BJP won 51 of the 59 seats, the Samajwadi Party four, the BSP three, and the BJP's ally Apna Dal (Sonelal) one.

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• UP Election 2022
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