Rajnath, Mayawati confident as UP polls in phase 5

Lucknow, May 6 (IANS) Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Monday said that he is confident of his victory in Lucknow, even as Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati said it was the SP-BSP alliance that would win maximum seats and play a crucial role in formation of the next government. Both the leaders were talking to reporters after casting their votes in Lucknow. Rajnath Singh, who cast his vote with his family, said that the BJP would get a clear majority in the elections while the NDA would get two-thirds majority. Mayawati said that the Modi government would be voted out and appealed to her voters to vote for the alliance. Meanwhile, voters queued up to cast their votes even before 7.a.m. when polling began to escape the heat wave conditions. Till 9 a.m. close to 10 per cent polling was reported in the 14 seats that went to poll in the fifth phase in the state. This phase too, was again marked by EVM malfunctioning. In Lucknow, polling began after almost an hour's delay due to EVM malfunction in Ramadhin Inter College and Singar Nagar polling booths. Reports of EVM malfunction were pouring in from Barabanki, Rae Bareli, Pratapgarh, Gonda, Banda and Dhaurhara. Poor light inside polling booths was reported from several polling stations in Sitapur where the polling officials had to use their mobile torch to search names of voters.
--IANS amita/in