E-Paper
Voter turnout touches 63% in UP, polling peaceful
A voter turnout of 63% was recorded in the 11 Lok Sabha constituencies of western Uttar Pradesh and Rohilkhand (Bareilly division) in the second phase of Lok Sabha election on Thursday.
A voter turnout of 63% was recorded in the 11 Lok Sabha constituencies of western Uttar Pradesh and Rohilkhand (Bareilly division) in the second phase of Lok Sabha election on Thursday.
The balloting in these seats rose by 8%, when compared with voter turnout of 54% during the 2009 general election.
However, the turnout is slightly lesser than the first phase of polling---which recorded 65% voting--- in the 10 seats of western UP, where voter polarisation is said to have spurred the higher percentage.
Throughout the day, long queues of voters were seen outside polling stations in all 11 constituencies--- Nagina, Moradabad, Rampur, Sambhal, Amroha, Badaun, Aonla, Bareilly, Pilibhit, Shahjehanpur and Khiri.
In the 2009 election, the SP won four of these 11 seats, Congress three and BJP two. One seat each went to the Bahujan Samaj Party and the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD).
About 150 candidates, 17 women among them, are in the fray. The key contestants whose fate was sealed in EVMs were Dharmendra Yadav (SP-Badaun), Shafiqur Rahman Barq (SP-Sambhal), Maneka Gandhi (BJP-Pilibhit), Haji Yaqoob Qureshi (BSP-Moradabad), Begum Noor Bano (Congress-Moradabad), Kazim Ali Khan (Congress-Rampur), Salim Iqbal Sherwani (Congress-Aonla) and Zafar Ali Naqvi (Congress-Kheri).
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Here's a map of the constituencies going to polls on Thursday. On searching, you will get details of all parties fighting from a constituency and its key candidates:
