The Uttar Pradesh Phase-5 state assembly elections concluded at 6 pm on Sunday, with 61 constituencies voting across 12 districts and the polling starting at 7 am. Chitrakoot, Kaushambi, Sultanpur, Pratapgarh, Prayagraj, Bahraich, Barabanki, Shravasti and Gonda were some districts that were under the fray.
A total of 2.24 crore voters exercised their right to vote for 692 candidates contesting the elections. Amethi, Ayodhya and Raebareli are some districts to look out for in these elections. Ayodhya is the centre of the Ram Mandir movement, while Amethi and Raebareli are the constituencies of stalwarts of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Indian National Congress (INC). A voter turnout of 55.8% was reported for this phase.
Interesting events
Prime Minister Narendra Modi responded to the Samajwadi Party (SP)’s leader’s statement about people wanting to come to the city of Varanasi in their final days. He said it would be his privilege to serve the people of Varanasi till his dying day. He also claimed that other parties considered their parties “private properties” while the BJP functions as a party that belongs to its workers.
A few hours before the Gonda constituency went into polling, the SP candidate from the Colonelganj Assembly constituency and his brothers and supporters were booked for being accused of raping a woman and beating her up. The candidate Yogesh Pratap Singh allegedly barged into the woman’s house and assaulted her for “supporting the BJP”.
Akhilesh Singh claimed that the people of Uttar Pradesh, this time around, have decided to send the “Babaji” back to his “math”, indicating Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.
According to ANI, PM Modi referred to opposition parties as “Pariwarwadis” and blamed them for hindering the development of the state. He said, “When these Pariwarwadis (SP) were in power, they used to put obstacles in whatever work we used to bring for development of UP. But in the last five years, the double engine government has tried sincerely for the development of Uttar Pradesh”.
He further claimed that these state assembly elections are a fight between dynasts and die-hard nationalists and that it is up to the voters to bring the right people to power. Talking about the development of the state, he said that the previous governments in UP shut down sugar mills, whereas the government-run of Yogi Adityanath modernised these mills and helped facilitate ethanol blending.
Attacking a rally in the Ballia district, Union Home Minister Amit Shah attacked the opposition. He claimed that the opposition gave the slogan of ‘Garibi Hatao’ in the 70s but instead of removing poverty, they lost the plot and started removing the poor.
In Barabanki district, Congress leader PL Punia mentioned how the people have decided to make the BJP lose. “BJP thinks it has weakened and is losing. So, they brought everyone to campaign – from PM to HM to their national president. They’re trying, but people won’t get lured. They’ve decided to make BJP lose,” ANI quoted him as saying.
