57.8% votes polled in 13 Lok Sabha seats in UP

The average polling percentage on 13 seats that went to the polls in the fourth phase of elections in Uttar Pradesh was 57.8 mainly due to blistering heat.

According to the chief electoral officer, the highest percentage of votes was polled in Jhansi and Lakhimpur Kheri (63 each) and the lowest polling percentage was reported from Kanpur (51.09) .

The seats where the polling was held include Shahjahanpur (SC), Kheri, Hardoi (SC), Misrikh (SC), Unnao, Farukkhabad, Etawah (SC), Kannauj, Kanpur, Akbarpur, Jalaun (SC), Jhansi and Hamirpur.

Though the polling was by and large peaceful, there were complaints of EVM malfunctioning in several constituencies.

The Samajwadi Party raised serious objections about faulty EVMs in Kannauj which affected polling. The party also claimed that their leaders were placed under house arrest.

A delegation of party leaders met the chief electoral officer with their complaints.

Complaints of EVM malfunctioning were also reported in Etawah under Auraiyya district and voters had to wait for prolonged time before they could cast their vote.

According to reports, a woman was allegedly beaten up after she did not cast her vote in favour of Samajwadi Party candidate in Etawah.

An FIR has been registered against a man in Auraiyya who allegedly carried his mobile phone into a polling booth and posted a picture while casting his vote on social media.

Reports of EVM glitches were also reported from Shahjahanpur, Kanpur, Jhansi, Lalitpur, Akbarpur, Farukkhabad and Lakhimpur.

A cow entered a polling station in Hardoi causing considerable commotion.

This phase of elections is particularly important for BJP which had won 12 of the 13 seats in 2014. The only seat the BJP did not win was Kannauj.

The four seats where the BJP had changed its sitting MPs -- Shahjahanpur, Hardoi, Misrikh and Etawah — are also crucial for the party.

The Congress has fielded candidates from 12 constituencies and the party is not contesting Kannauj.

Some of the prominent candidates whose electoral fate will be decided in this phase are Dimple Yadav, former Union ministers Salman Khurshid (Farukkhabad) and Sri Prakash Jaiswal (Kanpur) of Congress, UP cabinet minister Satyadev Pachauri (Kanpur), Sakshi Maharaj of BJP (Unnao) and Annu Tandon of Congress (Unnao).

As many as 2,41,07,084 voters were eligible to exercise their voting rights at 27,516 polling booths located in 17,011 polling centres.IANS