The fifth phase of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections on Sunday saw a voter turnout of 54.53%, making it the lowest figure since the first spell of voting on February 10.
According to the Election Commission of India, polling began at 7 am and will continued till 6 pm.
The fourth phase logged around 60% voter turnout on February 23, as compared to 61.61% recorded in the third one on February 20. The state in the first phase polls on February 10 logged a voting turnout of 60.51% and the figure in the second one jumped to 62.22% on February 14.
Around 2.24 crore people voted to choose from 692 candidates for 61 seats across 12 districts in the fifth phase of polling, including Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya.
Besides Maurya, others ministers in the fray are Siddharth Nath Singh, Rajendra Singh, Nand Gopal Gupta Nadi and Ramapati Shastri. Congress leader Aradhana Mishra Mona and Union minister Anupriya Patel’s mother Krishna Patel are also contesting the polls.
Amethi, Raebareli and Ayodhya are the major districts that went to the polls on Sunday. Voting is also being held in Kaushambi, Sultanpur, Bahraich, Chitrakoot, Pratapgarh, Prayagraj, Barabanki, Gonda and Shravasti districts.
Additional Chief Electoral Officer of Lucknow BD Ram Tiwari said polling was held peacefully at all places but added that there have been reports of glitches in electronic voting machines at some booths, reported ANI.
The elections to 403-seat Uttar Pradesh Assembly have already been held on February 10, February 14, February 20 and February 23. Voting for the remaining phases will take place on March 3 and March 7.
With the completion of the fifth phase, Uttar Pradesh have voted on 292 seats in the seven-phase state assembly polls.
Counting of votes will be held on March 10.
Despite four other states going to the polls along with Uttar Pradesh, the northern Indian state carries far more significance with analyses showing that the party that wins the state ends up ruling the country.
The polls result will be closely watched for clues ahead of parliamentary elections in 2024, reports Reuters.