Lucknow, Apr 23: Polling in the crucial fourth phase of assembly elections &13;in Uttar Pradesh began on a dull note this morning, across 57 constituencies &13;spread over 10 districts, under unprecedented security cover.
State &13;Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Anuj Kumar Bishnoi told UNI that polling started &13;at 0700 hrs under tight security cover in all the 57 assembly &13;segments.
According to EC sources, several places reported problems due &13;to non-functioning of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) but efforts were &13;underway to rectify them.
In the first one hour of polling, around 4 per &13;cent of the total 1.57 crore voters have exercised their franchise in 15,700 &13;polling booths so far, sources said.
The EC has stepped up security for &13;the Phase-IV voting, encouraged by the violence-free polling in Phase-I of the &13;state assembly elections on April 7, Phase-II in 58 seats on April 13 and &13;Phase-III on April 18.
Security forces are conducting flag marches while &13;the International border with Nepal in Kheri, Balrampur, Bahraich, Sravasti and &13;Sidharthangar have been sealed.
The paramilitary forces have been &13;deployed in and around the polling booths and sensitive areas to maintain law &13;and order.
Deputy Election Commissioner J P Prakash has been appointed &13;bythe EC to keep a constant vigil in the sensitive areas through an aerial view &13;from a helicopter while 57 constituencies have been provided with 10 additional &13;central observers to monitor the polling.
Altogether, 657 companies of &13;the paramilitary forces along with 60,000 state police personnel have been &13;deployed for the fourth phase of polling.
A total of 1.57 crore voters, &13;including 85.2 lakh male and 72.1 lakh female, are eligible to vote in 15,700 &13;polling booths, he added.
The CEO informed that about 18,100 electronic &13;Voting Machines(EVMs) would be used in the phase.
State principal &13;secretary (Home) K Chandramauli said here that 10 IG and DIG level officials &13;have been deputed in the ten districts to monitor security &13;forces.
Prominent candidates whose fate will be decided in Phase-IV &13;include bureaucrat-turned-politician P L Punia from Fatehpur, UP assembly &13;speaker Mata Prasad Pandey (Itwa), UP minister Arvind Singh Gope (Haidergarh) &13;and Reshma Arif, wife of the former Congress leader Arif Mohammad Khan from &13;Bahraich.
One-day chief minister of UP Jagdambika Pal (Basti), Dr Waqar &13;Ahmad Shah (Bahraich), who locked horns with senior Samajwadi Party leader Beni &13;Prasad Verma, resulting into the latter declaring that he would field separate &13;candidates, Gita Singh (Balrampur), the wife of former UP Director General of &13;Police (DGP) Yashpal Singh and Beni Prasad's son Rakesh Verma (Masauli and &13;Dariyabad), are also in the fray.
The fourth phase of polling will be &13;crucial for the SP, as the influence of rebel party leader Beni Prasad Verma's &13;mettle will be tested in districts like Barabanki and Bhariach. Mr Verma ha &13;floated a new political outfit ' Samajwadi Kranti Dal (SKD)' just before the &13;polls.
The caste base in the phase will consist of Kurmi in the region of &13;Kheri, Sitapur, Barabanki and Bahraich where the SP scooped the previous &13;elections.
Due to strong Kurmi population in this phase, Apna Dal, the &13;pre-poll alliance partner of BJP, has announced it would field candidates in &13;more than 10 seats. Altogether 922 candidates, including 63 women, are in the &13;fray for the fourth phase poll and criminal cases are pending against 116 &13;contestants.
In nine constituencies of Phase-IV, there are more than four &13;candidates facing criminal cases. These constitutuencies are Naugarh, Nighasan, &13;Balrampur, Mehndawal, Biswan, Gainsari, Shoratgarh, Itwa and Domariaganj. In &13;this phase, 45 candidates have declared assets of more than Rs one &13;crore.
Of the total candidates, 255 are from national and state &13;recognised parties, 252 from smaller parties and the other 415 are &13;independents.
In the 2002 assembly polls, the ruling SP won a maximum 31 &13;seats out of the 57 at stake in Phase-IV while the BJP won 14, BSP nine, &13;Congress two and other one.
Campaigning started on a dull note for this &13;phase, but picked up in the later stages with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, &13;Congress president Sonia Gandhi, and her son Rahul pitching for Congress &13;candidates while the BJP charge was led by party president Rajnath Singh, former &13;Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani along with several other leaders.
Ruling &13;SP president and Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav had spearheaded the &13;electioneering by addressing 8 to 10 election meetings daily, while BSP supremo &13;Mayawati had made all out efforts to consolidate her position.
The &13;districts going to poll in the phase are Kheri, Sitapur, Barabanki, Bahriach, &13;Shrawasti, Balrampur, Gonda, Basti, Sidharthnagar and Santkabirnagar.
The &13;constituencies are: Mohamdi(SC), Utraula, Haiderabad, Sadullah Nagar, Aila(SC), &13;Mankapur(SC), Lakhimpur, Mujehna, Srinagar, Gonda, Nighasan, Katra Bazar, &13;Dhaurehra, Colonelganj, Behta, Dixir(SC), Biswan, Arraiya, Mahmoodabad, &13;Captainganj, Sidhauli (SC), Nagar East(SC), Laharpur, Basti, Sitapur, Ramnagar, &13;Hargaon(SC), Domariaganj, Misrikh, Itwa, Machhrehta(SC), Shohratgarh, Rudauli, &13;Naugarh, Dariyabad, Bansi, Siddhaur(SC), Khesraha, Haidergarh, Menhdawal, &13;Masauli, Khalilabad(SC), Nawabganj, Hainsarbazar (SC), Fatehpur (SC), Ramnagar, &13;Kaiserganj, Fakharpur, Mahsi, Nanpara, Charda(SC), Bhinga,Bahraich, &13;Ikauna(SC),Gainsari,Tulsipur and Balrampur.
UNI
&13;&13;
State &13;Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Anuj Kumar Bishnoi told UNI that polling started &13;at 0700 hrs under tight security cover in all the 57 assembly &13;segments.
According to EC sources, several places reported problems due &13;to non-functioning of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) but efforts were &13;underway to rectify them.
In the first one hour of polling, around 4 per &13;cent of the total 1.57 crore voters have exercised their franchise in 15,700 &13;polling booths so far, sources said.
The EC has stepped up security for &13;the Phase-IV voting, encouraged by the violence-free polling in Phase-I of the &13;state assembly elections on April 7, Phase-II in 58 seats on April 13 and &13;Phase-III on April 18.
Security forces are conducting flag marches while &13;the International border with Nepal in Kheri, Balrampur, Bahraich, Sravasti and &13;Sidharthangar have been sealed.
The paramilitary forces have been &13;deployed in and around the polling booths and sensitive areas to maintain law &13;and order.
Deputy Election Commissioner J P Prakash has been appointed &13;bythe EC to keep a constant vigil in the sensitive areas through an aerial view &13;from a helicopter while 57 constituencies have been provided with 10 additional &13;central observers to monitor the polling.
Altogether, 657 companies of &13;the paramilitary forces along with 60,000 state police personnel have been &13;deployed for the fourth phase of polling.
A total of 1.57 crore voters, &13;including 85.2 lakh male and 72.1 lakh female, are eligible to vote in 15,700 &13;polling booths, he added.
The CEO informed that about 18,100 electronic &13;Voting Machines(EVMs) would be used in the phase.
State principal &13;secretary (Home) K Chandramauli said here that 10 IG and DIG level officials &13;have been deputed in the ten districts to monitor security &13;forces.
Prominent candidates whose fate will be decided in Phase-IV &13;include bureaucrat-turned-politician P L Punia from Fatehpur, UP assembly &13;speaker Mata Prasad Pandey (Itwa), UP minister Arvind Singh Gope (Haidergarh) &13;and Reshma Arif, wife of the former Congress leader Arif Mohammad Khan from &13;Bahraich.
One-day chief minister of UP Jagdambika Pal (Basti), Dr Waqar &13;Ahmad Shah (Bahraich), who locked horns with senior Samajwadi Party leader Beni &13;Prasad Verma, resulting into the latter declaring that he would field separate &13;candidates, Gita Singh (Balrampur), the wife of former UP Director General of &13;Police (DGP) Yashpal Singh and Beni Prasad's son Rakesh Verma (Masauli and &13;Dariyabad), are also in the fray.
The fourth phase of polling will be &13;crucial for the SP, as the influence of rebel party leader Beni Prasad Verma's &13;mettle will be tested in districts like Barabanki and Bhariach. Mr Verma ha &13;floated a new political outfit ' Samajwadi Kranti Dal (SKD)' just before the &13;polls.
The caste base in the phase will consist of Kurmi in the region of &13;Kheri, Sitapur, Barabanki and Bahraich where the SP scooped the previous &13;elections.
Due to strong Kurmi population in this phase, Apna Dal, the &13;pre-poll alliance partner of BJP, has announced it would field candidates in &13;more than 10 seats. Altogether 922 candidates, including 63 women, are in the &13;fray for the fourth phase poll and criminal cases are pending against 116 &13;contestants.
In nine constituencies of Phase-IV, there are more than four &13;candidates facing criminal cases. These constitutuencies are Naugarh, Nighasan, &13;Balrampur, Mehndawal, Biswan, Gainsari, Shoratgarh, Itwa and Domariaganj. In &13;this phase, 45 candidates have declared assets of more than Rs one &13;crore.
Of the total candidates, 255 are from national and state &13;recognised parties, 252 from smaller parties and the other 415 are &13;independents.
In the 2002 assembly polls, the ruling SP won a maximum 31 &13;seats out of the 57 at stake in Phase-IV while the BJP won 14, BSP nine, &13;Congress two and other one.
Campaigning started on a dull note for this &13;phase, but picked up in the later stages with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, &13;Congress president Sonia Gandhi, and her son Rahul pitching for Congress &13;candidates while the BJP charge was led by party president Rajnath Singh, former &13;Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani along with several other leaders.
Ruling &13;SP president and Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav had spearheaded the &13;electioneering by addressing 8 to 10 election meetings daily, while BSP supremo &13;Mayawati had made all out efforts to consolidate her position.
The &13;districts going to poll in the phase are Kheri, Sitapur, Barabanki, Bahriach, &13;Shrawasti, Balrampur, Gonda, Basti, Sidharthnagar and Santkabirnagar.
The &13;constituencies are: Mohamdi(SC), Utraula, Haiderabad, Sadullah Nagar, Aila(SC), &13;Mankapur(SC), Lakhimpur, Mujehna, Srinagar, Gonda, Nighasan, Katra Bazar, &13;Dhaurehra, Colonelganj, Behta, Dixir(SC), Biswan, Arraiya, Mahmoodabad, &13;Captainganj, Sidhauli (SC), Nagar East(SC), Laharpur, Basti, Sitapur, Ramnagar, &13;Hargaon(SC), Domariaganj, Misrikh, Itwa, Machhrehta(SC), Shohratgarh, Rudauli, &13;Naugarh, Dariyabad, Bansi, Siddhaur(SC), Khesraha, Haidergarh, Menhdawal, &13;Masauli, Khalilabad(SC), Nawabganj, Hainsarbazar (SC), Fatehpur (SC), Ramnagar, &13;Kaiserganj, Fakharpur, Mahsi, Nanpara, Charda(SC), Bhinga,Bahraich, &13;Ikauna(SC),Gainsari,Tulsipur and Balrampur.
UNI
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