Uttar Pradesh Assembly Polls, Phase 6: Polling begins at a slow pace, 8.69 pc voter turnout till 9 am

Lucknow: Polling began at a slow pace as only 8.69 per cent of 2.15 crore votes were polled in the first two hours till 9 am for 57 seats spread over 10 districts in the sixth phase of Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections on Thursday.

According to the Chief Electoral Officer, maximum 9.88 per cent votes were polled in Basti district, whereas Sant Kabir Nagar saw minimum turnout of 6.80 per cent.

Among other districts, 9.46 per cent votes were polled in Ambedkar Nagar, 7.57 per cent in Ballia, 8.13 per cent in Balrampur, 8.39 per cent in Deoria, 8.96 per cent in Gorakhpur, 9.64 per cent in Kushinagar, 8.80 per cent in Maharajganj and 8.28 per cent in Siddharth Nagar.

In this phase, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath is contesting from the Gorakhpur Sadar seat. This is the first time that he will be contesting an assembly election.

Chief Electoral Officer Ajay Kumar Shukla said that 2.15 crore voters, including 1.15 crore male and 1 crore female, are eligible to vote to decide the electoral fortune of 676 candidates.

There are 66 women candidates in the fray in this phase. Polling is being held at 25,326 booths set up at 13,936 polling stations.

Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) Prashant Kumar said nine assembly constituencies-- Gorakhpur Sadar, Bansi, Itwa, Domariyaganj, Ballia Sadar, Phephna, Bairia, Sikandarpur and Bansdih-- have been categorised as sensitive.

The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which faced a tough challenge from Samajwadi Party (SP) in the previous phases, hopes to get an edge over its opponents in the Purvanchal region of the state. (UNI)