Lucknow: In the fifth phase of Lok Sabha elections in Uttar Pradesh, polling witnessed an average turnout of 38.56% at 1 pm. The last of the seven-phase parliamentary elections in India started today, with elections taking place in 14 constituencies, including Mohanlalganj, Lucknow, Rae Bareli, Amethi, Jalaun, Jhansi, Hamirpur, Banda, Fatehpur, Barabanki, Kaushambi, Faizabad, Kaiserganj, and Gonda. Uttar Pradesh is the only state which conducts elections in all seven phases, along with West Bengal and Bihar.
The Election Commission of India (ECI) reported that Barabanki has the highest voter turnout of 44.77%, followed by Jhansi (43.61%), Mohanlalganj (41.43%), Faizabad (40.77%), Hamirpur (40.71%), and Banda (40.21%) by 1 PM. These were the only districts which had recorded above 40% voter turnout. On the other hand, Rae Bareli had 39.69%, Fatehpur stood at 39.85%, Jalan had 39.50%, Amethi (38.21%), Lucknow (33.50%) among the other constituencies, as reported by the Election Commission of India.
During this phase, the poll for 14 Lok Sabha seats in the state of Uttar Pradesh shall be conducted in the seven phases of elections. The Election Commission says that a total of 144 candidates are in the run for election, with 466 forms filled and 147 already scrutinised.
The top candidates in the united province are Congress Party’s Rahul Gandhi from Rae Bareli, Smriti Irani from Amethi, defence minister Rajnath from Lucknow, and Karan Bhushansingh from Kaiserganj the son of Brij Saraswati from Sharan Singh. Another sexual harassment case surfaced as former president of the Wrestling Federation of India Wrestling Brij Bhushan was accused by several female grapplers.
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