An estimated 47 per cent of 1.57 crore voters exercised their franchise on Monday in 57 constituencies spread over 10 districts for the fourth phase of Uttar Pradesh assembly polls in peaceful polling under unprecedented security cover.
Polling began on a dull note on Monday morning at 0700 hrs but picked up in the day despite the scorching heat, state Additional Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Devesh Chaturvedi told UNI.
Several places reported problems due to non-functioning of Electronic Voting Machines but they were replaced immediately, Election Commission sources said.
Reports of names missing from voter lists were received from several constituencies. Names of BJP parliamentarian Brij Bhushan Tiwari and his family members were missing from the voters list in Basti district.
Over 1.57 crore voters, including 41.37 lakh women, were expected to decide the fate of 922 candidates, including state Labour Minister Waqar Ahmad Shah, PWD Minister Arvind Singh Gope, Congress leader Jagdambika Pal and Samajwadi Kranti Dal's Reshma Arif.
Election officials said 17,500 EVMs were used during Monday's polling arranged in 15,233 polling stations and 9,200 polling centres.
As many as 65,700 personnel of central paramilitary force were deployed in this phase to ensure free, fair and peaceful elections.
The districts going to polls included Barabanki, Bahraich, Sitapur, Basti, Gonda, Siddharthnagar, Shravasti, Balrampur, Lakhimpur Kheri and Sant Kabir Nagar.
Samajwadi Party supremo and Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav faced a tough challenge in this phase of polling for 57 seats, which has a sizable Kurmi population. The task was made tougher for Yadav by none other than his one-time confidant but now his major foe, Beni Prasad Verma, an influential Kurmi leader who has formed a separate outfit.
