Modi in fray from Varanasi as UP polls on 13 seats in last phase

Lucknow: Polling for the final phase of Lok Sabha elections in 13 Uttar Pradesh constituencies that include Varanasi, from where Prime Minister Narendra Modi is seeking a third consecutive term, began at 7 am on Saturday.

The state sends 80 members to the Lower House of Parliament and the polling has been spread over all seven election phases.

The bypoll for the Duddhi (ST) assembly constituency in Sonbhadra district is also being held on Saturday.

Six candidates are contesting from the seat that fell vacant after BJP MLA Ram Dular's disqualification following his conviction in a rape case.

The parliamentary seats where polling will take place are Maharajganj, Gorakhpur, Kushinagar, Deoria, Bansgaon (SC), Ghosi, Salempur, Ballia, Ghazipur, Chandauli, Varanasi, Mirzapur and Robertsganj (SC), spread across 11 districts.

Besides Modi, there are 143 candidates in the fray. Of them, 134 are male candidates and 10 are female candidates.

According to the Election Commission, voting for all the Lok Sabha seats in the seventh phase barring Robertsganj seat will be held from 7 am to 6 pm.

In Robertsganj (SC) Lok Sabha seat and Duddhi (ST) assembly constituency, voting will be held from 7 am to 4 pm.

Uttar Pradesh is seeing a direct contest between the BJP-led NDA and INDIA bloc members Samajwadi Party and Congress.

Among the prominent Lok Sabha seats in this phase are Modi's Varanasi, Gorakhpur, which has been represented by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath five times, and Chandauli, Maharajganj and Mirzapur from where Union ministers Mahendra Nath Pandey, Pankaj Chaudhary and Anupriya Patel are contesting.

From Ghazipur, mafia don-turned-politician late Mukhtar Ansari's brother Afzal Ansari is in the fray and from Ballia, former prime minister Chandrashekhar's son Neeraj Shekhar is contesting.

Campaigning for the 13 seats ended on Thursday evening.

Prime Minister Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh were among the star campaigners for the NDA.

The INDIA bloc saw Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav and his wife Dimple Yadav canvassing for the candidates of the alliance, with roadshows held in Varanasi and Gorakhpur.

Gandhi contested the polls from Rae Bareli in the fifth phase on May 20, Akhilesh Yadav was fielded by the SP from Kannauj that went to polls in the fourth phase on May 13 and Dimple Yadav contested from Mainpuri where voting was held in the third phase on May 7.

During campaigning, the BJP alleged that the INDIA bloc would bring in Muslim reservation and put the "Babri lock" on Ayodhya's Ram temple if voted to power.

The opposition alliance urged people not to vote for the BJP to "save" the Constitution and democracy.

BJP's key allies NISHAD Party and Om Prakash Rajbhar's SBSP have candidates contesting in this phase. Ally Apna Dal (Sonelal)'s Anupriya Patel is also seeking a reelection.

Mayawati's BSP is contesting the Varanasi and Gorakhpur seats.

UP's Chief Electoral Officer Navdeep Rinwa said there are 2,50,56,877 voters in the 13 Lok Sabha seats in the seventh phase, including 1,33,10,897 men, 1,17,44,922 women and 1,058 transgender people.