LS polls: 39.68% turnout recorded till 1 pm in UP's 13 seats

Lucknow: A voter turnout of 39.68 per cent was recorded till 1 pm 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 1 pm, Uttar Pradesh recorded 39.68 per cent polling, according to Election Commission (EC) figures.

Akbarpur parliamentary constituency has recorded 38.20 per cent polling, Bahraich 40.68 per cent, Dhaurahra 43.25 per cent, Etawah 37.68 per cent, Farrukhabad 40.39 per cent, Hardoi 39.45 per cent, Kannauj 43.14 per cent, Kanpur 33.84 per cent, Kheri 43.31 per cent, Misrikh 38.94 per cent, Shahjahanpur 36.34 per cent, Sitapur 42.65 per cent and Unnao 38.69 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 where 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 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 38.45 per cent polling till 1 pm, according to the commission.

In Bahraich, the first vote was cast by a physically-challenged voter.

District Magistrate and District Election Officer Monica Rani said, "The first vote of Bahraich was cast by a 'divyaang' (physically-challenged) voter, after which all of us administrative officers exercised our franchise." "Today along with 'divyaang' voters, a large number of members of the Tharu tribe and transgender community also exercised their franchise," the official said.

In Lakhimpur Kheri, voters turned up at polling booths to cast their votes despite rains.

There were also reports of poll boycott from some villages, including Aurangabad, in Shahjahanpur district over delay in development of roads.

Village chief Virendra Verma told reporters that locals are angry due to the absence of a road in their village and that is why they have boycotted the polls.

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.