AMN / WEB DESK
Polling is progressing smoothly and will be conducted till 6.00 P.M. in the 57 Assembly Constituencies spread over 10 districts in Uttar Pradesh. The state is witnessing seven-phase elections. An average voter turnout of 21.79 per cent was registered till 11.00 A.M. in the Sixth Phase of Assembly Elections
Ten districts where polling is underway include Balrampur, Siddharthnagar, Maharajganj, Kushinagar, Basti, Sant Kabir Nagar, Ambedkarnagar, Gorakhpur, Deoria, and Ballia. A total of 6 hundred 76 candidates including 66 women are in the fray. Over 2 crore 15 lakh voters will cast their vote in this phase.
All eyes are centered on Gorakhpur city where Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath is contesting assembly election for the first time. Some of the ministers of the Yogi Adityanath government are also contesting elections in this phase. The names include Surya Pratap Shahi, Jai Pratap Singh, Satish Chandra Dwivedi, and Jai Prakash Nishad.
In the neighboring Kushinagar district, two bigwigs are in the fray on Samajwadi Party and Congress tickets. Swami Prasad Maurya, former minister in the Yogi Adityanath government is contesting on the Samajwadi Party ticket from Fazilnagar seat. Congress state president Ajay Kumar Lallu is contesting from Tamkuhiraj seat of Kushinagar.
Former ministers in the Bahujan Samaj Party government Ram Achal Rajbhar, Lalji Verma are contesting on Samajwadi Party tickets this time.