Around 55.60 per cent of the total 2.50 crore voters used their right to franchise in 13 Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh where polling for the seventh and last phase were held on Saturday.

The polling was peaceful and no untoward incident has been reported from anywhere, the ECI official here said.

The polling started at a brisk note from 7 am as voters, mostly senior citizens, women and first time voters, queued up at the booths well before the polling started.

However malfunctioning of EVMs have dampened the enthusiasm of the voters leading to delay in the start of polling in around 50 booths.

Heatwave conditions in the region have also affected the voting even though the ECI has made all arrangements to provide all facilities to the voters and polling personnel.

At 5 pm the poll percentage was around 54 per cent which rose to 55.60 per cent at 6 pm, when the polls ended.

In Dudhi assembly bypolls in Sonbhadra district, the polling percentage till 5 pm was 54.48 per cent.

In Varanasi , the voter turnout was below average. At 5 pm the poll percentage was 54.58 per cent. Heatwave conditions were said to be the reason behind the slow voting.

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath voted in Gorakhpur along with Himachal Pradesh governor Shiv Pratap Shukla. Jammu & Kashmir Lt Governor Manoj Kumar Sinha voted in Ghazipur.

In Varanasi, Sikkim Governor Laxman Acharya used his franchise. In the last phase of polling, 144 candidates along with Prime Minister Narendra Modi from Varanasi, 3 Unions Ministers: Anupriya Patel (Mirzapur), Dr Mahendra Nath Pandey (Chandauli) and Pankaj Choudhury (Maharajganj) fate will be decided.

Besides, Chief minister Yogi Adityanath’s political acumen would be tested on his home turf Gorakhpur, which he won five times. Bhojpuri actor Ravi Kishan Shukla is trying his luck for the second time.

All eyes will also be on the performance of UP Congress president Ajay Rai, who is pitted against the PM in Varanasi. Ghazipur seat is also important to see which way it will go in the absence of mafia Mukhtar Ansari.

In this phase in 2019, the BJP had won nine seats while its ally Apna Dal (Sonelal) had won Mirzapur and Sonbhadra seats. In the opposition, the BSP, which had an alliance with the SP, had won Ghazipur and Ghosi seats.

The ECI said based on the information received from the districts till 6 pm, an average of 55.60 per cent voting took place in 13 Lok Sabha constituencies of the state.

The polling percentage in Maharajganj was pegged at 60.08 %, Gorakhpur 54.69%, Kushinagar 57.29%, Deoria 55.30%, Bansgaon (SC) 51.59%, Ghosi 54.87%, Ballia 51.84%, Ghazipur 55.21%, Chandauli 60.34%, Varanasi 56.35 %, Mirzapur 57.72% and Robertsganj (SC) 55.92%.

For the purpose of keeping the voting process free and fair, webcasting was arranged at 13,092 polling places for effective supervision, which was supervised at all three levels by the District Election Officer, Chief Electoral Officer and Election Commission of India.

Apart from the above, arrangements for videography were also made at 2,304 polling places. In the seventh phase of postal ballot voting, 19,767 voters used this facility.

Apart from the above, 1 Senior General Observer, 1 Senior Police Observer and 01 Senior Expenditure Observer were also deployed at the state level by the Election Commission of India, who supervised the entire election process by staying in the area.

According to the information received from the districts, a total of 152 BUs, 219 CUs and 338 VVPATs were changed during the mock poll and after the start of voting till 5 pm, a total of 53 BUs, 51 CUs and 199 VVPATs were changed.