UP Election 2024 Highlights: 54.85% voting recorded in 8 constituencies of Uttar Pradesh

54.85% voting was recorded in 8 constituencies of Uttar Pradesh during second phase of elections o Friday.

Citing the controversy around the inheritance tax and wealth redistribution, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Friday said the INDIA bloc and its constituent Congress want to lay the foundation of the country's division on religious lines. Adityanath accused opposition parties of trying to rob the hard-earned wealth of people, “reintroduce personal laws” and “resurrect the Maoist insurgency”. Addressing the media at his official residence here, the chief minister termed the Congress manifesto as harmful for the country and said it was necessary that the opposition be thwarted by the people in the ongoing elections.

UP Election 2024 LIVE Updates:  Congress party will convene a meeting tomorrow to discuss and finalise candidates for the remaining Lok Sabha seats, including Amethi and Raebareli in Uttar Pradesh, on Saturday evening, news agency ANI reported citing sources.

The Congress' central election committee (CEC), led by party chief Mallikarjun Kharge, is scheduled to meet on Saturday evening to deliberate on the remaining seats for the Lok Sabha polls. 

Sources indicate that the party is expected to deliberate on potential candidates for the Lok Sabha seats of Amethi and Raebareli, which were previously held by Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi, respectively. So far, the Congress has announced candidates for 317 Lok Sabha seats.

Poll percentage in the Uttar Pradesh elections increased to 54.01% as of 8.40 pm on Friday.

Uttar Pradesh recorded a polling of 53.34% in 8 constituencies during second phase of elections held across different parts of the country today.

“The second phase of polling took place in eight constituencies in Uttar Pradesh today. We recorded almost 53 per cent voting till 5 pm. We arranged for webcasting at 8,852 places covering 50 per cent polling stations,” says UP Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Navdeep Rinwa.

UP Election 2024 LIVE Updates: 53.21% voting was recorded in 8 constituencies of Uttar Pradesh in the second phase of LS polls today.

PM Modi held  a roadshow in Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh today.

Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav said on Friday that the fight for the removal of Electronic Voting Machines (EVM), currently used in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections, is a 'long' one. Yadav, who recently announced his candidature from the Kannauj Lok Sabha constituency, also said that though everyone will accept the SC's judgment on EVMs, the fight against the polling machine will not stop.

Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya attacked the Congress party amid the row over OBC reservation in Karnataka, and said that the party wants to snatch the rights of SC, ST, and OBC community and give it to the infiltrators. Maurya said on Friday that the BJP supports 'Sabka Sath Sabka Vikas' while the Congress only believes in the ‘disgusting politics of appeasement.’

Over 52.64% voting percentage was recorded in 8 constituencies of UP till 5pm.

UP Election 2024 LIVE Updates: "No matter what PM Modi says, 400 plus or 500 plus, it's better to ask voters, you'll get the reality. Be it Ram Temple or Babri Mosque, all has been done by the Supreme Court's judgement and the temple has been built with the people's money and similarly the mosque will be built like that... He (Akhilesh Yadav) is a cricket fan and hence he is giving the analogy of cricket. If he looks at the ground he has been contesting this election in an alliance with the party which has just 2% votes (in the state)..." Akash Anand said.

“In the second phase, a strange trend was observed throughout the day that the number of voters from all communities and classes voting in support of the 'India Alliance' kept on increasing at every booth, while on the other hand, the number of BJP voters kept on decreasing,” Akhilesh Yadav said in a post on X.

When asked about Amethi and Raebareli seats, Uttar Pradesh Congress in-charge Avinash Pande said, " This election will be fought very strongly from there by INDIA alliance and it is not as easy as BJP pretends it to be, this itself shows, from inside, they have accepted the defeat...Smriti Irani's statements shouldn't be given importance anywhere...reacting to it will be like stooping to a very low level of politics. For Smriti Irani also this election is going to be tough and INDIA alliance will win"

UP Election 2024 LIVE Updates: "Congress and INDI allaince are conspiring to divide the nation again. Will this country accept this conspiracy?... Along with the inheritance tax, Congress has said one more thing in its manifesto. They have said that "we will give freedom to minorities to eat whatever they want". This means they'll give a free hand to cow slaughtering. Will you give a free hand to cow slaughtering? Look at these shameless people, and how they are playing with the faith of the country. The cow to which we believe as our mother, they will give that cow to be slaughtered by butchers," CM Yogi said.

"I just want to say one thing - make INDIA alliance and Samajwadi Party win and remove the EVM. I want to say that BJP is flustered by the expansion of PDA family. The BJP government snatched away all the jobs, and they are not providing employment, because then they will have to give reservation," said Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav

Uttar Pradesh Congress in-charge Avinash Pande said, " ...In all the constituencies I have visited, I could see a lot of excitement in people for change. The way voting happened in the first phase, it is very clear that the candidates of INDIA alliance are winning by a good majority. The reason for that is there is dissatisfaction among people, especially among youth, they're totally disappointed with the present govt. They want a change..."

"Congress and INDI allaince are conspiring to divide the nation again. Will this country accept this conspiracy?... Along with the inheritance tax, Congress has said one more thing in its manifesto. They have said that "we will give freedom to minorities to eat whatever they want". This means they'll give a free hand to cow slaughtering. Will you give a free hand to cow slaughtering? Look at these shameless people, and how they are playing with the faith of the country. The cow to which we believe as our mother, they will give that cow to be slaughtered by butchers."

According to the Election Commission (EC), 51.44 per cent votes were polled in Amroha, 47.52 per cent in Meerut, 42.92 per cent in Baghpat, 41.13 per cent in Ghaziabad, 44.08 in Gautam Buddh Nagar, 44.54 in Bulandshahr, 44.08 per cent in Aligarh and 39.45 in Mathura till 3 pm.

UP Election 2024 LIVE Updates: Over 44.13% voting was recorded in 8 constituencies of UP till 3pm.

"The BJP removed our tables from here at 6 am and our workers were threatened. The Election Commission should take cognisance of this hooliganism. I have complained with the EC," said Dolly Sharma, the INDIA bloc candidate from UP's Ghaziabad, where polling is underway.

Election Commission (EC) officials said 40.67 per cent votes were polled in Amroha, 38.33 per cent in Meerut, 34.17 per cent in Baghpat, 33.99 per cent in Ghaziabad, 36.05 in Gautam Buddh Nagar, 35.35 in Bulandshahr, 35.55 per cent in Aligarh and 32.70 in Mathura till 1 pm.

On polling in UP, Samajwadi Party candidate from Mainpuri constituency Dimple Yadav said, "Samajwadi Party and the alliance is performing very well. All the regional parties across the country are winning against the BJP..."

"It is an ambitious target. The PM himself has put this target before a government seeking third straight term and the alliance partners. We all are working hard," says RLD chief Jayant Chaudhary after casting his vote in Mathura.