UP Election: Approx. 57% polling in 6th Phase

Uttar Pradesh(UP) 6th Phase polls ends today with approx. 57% Polling in western Uttar Pradesh in 68 assembly constituencies across 13 districts. About 57 percent of the 2.17 crore voters cast their franchise, state chief electoral officer Umesh Sinha said. In some places like Saharanpur 64 percent of the elecorate had cast their ballots. The Congress' sagacity in entering a pre-poll tie-up with Ajit Singh's Rashtriya Lok Dal will be put to test in this phase in the region, traditionally a stronghold of the new Aviation Minister. The polling, which sees Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) chief Ajit Singh's son Jayant Chaudhury among more than 1,000 candidates testing their luck, opened at 7 am. While the elections were proceeding peacefully, there were some glitches as well. Team Anna member Arvind Kejriwal's name was missing from the voters list in Ghaziabad. Polling in Noida, Dadri and Jewar assembly seats in Gautam Budhh Nagar was conducted peacefully.

The CEO said that polling was being held at 22,137 polling stations at 12181 centres, of which 3188 centres and 4892 stations have been marked as sensitive. To keep a tight vigil on polling process, 1015 video cameras and 2353 digital cameras have been installed. In the 2007 assembly polls, 46.58 % votes were polled for 67 seats of which BSP got 35, BJP 12, RLD 10, SP 3, Congress 2 and others 5. All the political parties including Congress, SP, BSP, BJP and RLD have done hectic campaigning in the Jat land of the state.