20% polling in UP s 7th phase amid snags, boycott calls (Second Lead)

Lucknow March 8 (IANS) Amid technical snags and boycott calls in some polling stations over 20 per cent voting was reported from the rest of the 40 seats where polling is underway on Wednesday in the seventh and final phase of Uttar Pradesh elections.

Large turnout of women comprising both seniors and the youth were seen in all the eight seats of Varanasi the parliamentary constituency of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

In the first four hours 26 per cent polling was reported from Varanasi while 28 per cent voting was reported from neighbouring Mirzapur.

Till 11 a.m. Jaunpur recorded 21 per cent voting 25 per cent was recorded in naxalite infested Sonbhadra and 24 per cent in Bhadohi the carpet exporting hub in eastern part of the state.

Technical snags in electronic voting machines (EVMs) and calls for boycotting polls were reported in some polling stations in Mirzapur and Bhadohi.

A total of 535 candidates including 51 women are in fray in the last phase of polls spread across seven districts of eastern Uttar Pradesh known as Poorvanchal.

Nearly one and a half crore voters are eligible to exercise their franchise in the this phase including 76.87 lakh men and 64.99 lakh women. A total of 706 voters are of the third gender.

As many as 8 682 polling stations with 14 458 polling booths have been set up a poll official said.

Polling will continue till 5 p.m. in 37 constituencies whereas in Robertsganj and Duddhi in Sonbhadra district and Chakia segment in Chandauli it will end by 4 p.m. the Election Commission official added.

The onus is on the ruling Samajwadi Party to retain its prestige as it had won 24 of these 40 seats in the 2012 assembly polls. However a lot is also at stake for the Bharatiya Janata Party and Modi himself as it swept the Poorvanchal in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.

--IANS
md/in/vm