As the Lok Sabha elections 2019 entered the last lap, moderate 50.63 percentage polling was recorded till 5 PM in the sixth phase of the elections in Uttar Pradesh on Sunday.
The seventh and last phase of the Lok Sabha polls will be held on May 19 and the results will be declared on May 23.
Elections in the sixth phase were held in 14 Lok Sabha constituencies of the state, including the high profile Azamgarh seat where Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav is in the fray. The former Uttar Pradesh chief minister is being challenged by Bhojpuri movie star Dinesh Lal Yadav alias Nirhua. In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, Samajwadi Party veteran Mulayam Singh Yadav had won from Azamgarh.
In Sultanpur, Union Minister Maneka Gandhi of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was locked in a keen contest with Chandra Bhadra Singh alias Sonu Singh of the SP-BSP-RLD combine.
A voter turnout of 55.24 per cent was recorded in Ambedkar Nagar followed by Basti where the polling percentage was 53.28 per cent. While a voter turn out of 52.93 per cent was recorded in Sultanpur, 52.60 per cent polling was held in Azamgarh.
Notwithstanding the political importance of Phulpur and Allahabad, the turnout on these seats was surprisingly low. Till 5 PM, the voting percentage in Phulpur was 46.00 per cent and in Allahabad 47.06 per cent. Below 50 per cent polling was also recorded in Shrawasti (47.80 per cent) and Domariyaganj (46.40 per cent).
Polling, which started on a sluggish note in the morning, picked up gradually. However, till 3 PM, moderate polling of 43.35 per cent was recorded with Ambedkar Nagar recording the highest turnout of 47.60 per cent. It was followed by Basti where polling was 46.72 per cent and Machhlishahr coming next with 45.40 per cent turnout.
Interestingly, Phulpur and Allahabad lagged behind with a turnout of 36.80 per cent and 39.12 per cent respectively.
The voter turnout in other constituencies till 3 PM was Sultanpur (45.87 per cent), Pratapgarh (43.80 per cent), Shrawasti (41.89 per cent), Domariyaganj (41.20 per cent), Sant Kabir Nagar (44.18 per cent), Lalganj (44.11 per cent), Azamgarh (45.20 per cent), Jaunpur (43.78 per cent) and Bhadohi (41.63 per cent).
The prestigious Sultanpur Lok Sabha seat, which is in the neighbourhood of Amethi, witnessed a triangular contest between Maneka Gandhi, Sonu Singh, and Sanjay Singh.