LS polls: 11.67 % voter turnout in Uttar Pradesh till 9 am in 13 seats

Lucknow: A voter turnout of 11.67 per cent was recorded till 9 am on Monday in Uttar Pradesh where polling is underway in 13 Lok Sabha constituencies in the fourth round of the seven-phase general elections.

Polling began at 7 am and is scheduled to end at 6 pm. Till 9 am, Uttar Pradesh recorded 11.67 per cent polling, according to Election Commission (EC) figures.

Akbarpur constituency has recorded 12.16 per cent, Bahraich 14.04 per cent, Dhaurahra 13.96 per cent, Etawah 7.06 per cent, Farrukhabad 13.15 per cent, Hardoi 13.17 per cent, Kannauj 14.23 per cent, Kanpur 7.84 per cent, Kheri 12.21 per cent, Misrikh 12.92 per cent, Shahjahanpur 5.94 per cent, Sitapur 14.28 per cent and Unnao 11.85 per cent, according to EC data.

The keenly watched seats in this phase of polls in the state include Kannauj, from where Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav is seeking re-election, and Kheri, from wher Union Minister Ajay Mishra Teni, whose son is an accused in the 2021 Lakhimpur Kheri violence case, is eyeing a hat-trick.

There are 130 candidates are in the fray in these parliamentary seats.

A bypoll is also being held for the Dadraul assembly constituency in Shahjahanpur district. The seat fell vacant following the death of BJP MLA Manvendra Singh on January 5 after a prolonged illness.

There are 10 candidates in the fray in Dadraul, which recorded 12.70 per cent polling till 9 am, according to the commission.

Of the 13 Lok Sabha constituencies, the BJP has reposed its faith in 11 sitting MPs by giving them tickets, while it has fielded new candidates Ramesh Awasthi from Kanpur and Anand Kumar from the Bahraich-SC seat.

For the INDIA bloc, the SP has fielded candidates from 11 Lok Sabha seats in this phase, while on two seats -- Kanpur (Alok Misra) and Sitapur (Rakesh Rathor) -- candidates of the Congress are in the fray.

Four BJP candidates -- Mishra (Kheri), Rekha Verma (Dhaurahra), Mukesh Rajput (Farrukhabad), and Devendra Singh alias Bhole (Akbarpur) -- are eyeing a hat-trick, while Rajesh Verma is eyeing a fifth term in the Lok Sabha from Sitapur.

Ashok Kumar Rawat and Ram Shankar Katheria are eyeing a fourth term from Misrikh (SC) and Etawah (SC), respectively. Sitting MP from Hardoi (SC) Jai Prakash and incumbent from Unnao Sakshi Maharaj are eyeing a sixth term.

More than 2.46 crore people are eligible to vote in this phase in the state.