Sixty per cent of voters cast their ballot in the seventh and last phase of polling in Uttar Pradesh till 5 p.m. on Wednesday. Prominent candidates who were in the fray include former Cabinet minister Om Prakash, Parasnath Yadav, Ajay Rai, former MP Dhananjay Singh, Sigbatullah Ansari brother of Mukhtar Ansari and Seema Singh wife of jailed mafia Munna Bajrangi.
A total of 1.41 crore voters, including 64.76 lakh women, were eligible to exercise their franchise in 14,458 polling booths and 8,682 polling centres to decide the fate of 585 candidates, including 51 women.
Along with five Assembly segments under Varanasi Lok Sabha constituency, three Naxal-affected districts of Sonbhadra, Mirzapur and Chandauli were also in the prime focus. Ghazipur, Jaunpur and Bhadoi were the other districts where polling was underway.
Counting of votes of all the seven phases of the Assembly polls will be held on March 11.
Here are the highlights from phase 7 of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections 2017
5:22 PM: Last phase of polling ends on March 8.
Voting for seventh phase of Uttar Pradesh elections ends, visuals from Mirzapur pic.twitter.com/s2zMyHSW8o
— ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) March 8, 2017
4:12 PM: 51.69% voting recorded till 3 pm
51.69% voting till 3 pm in the seventh and last phase of UP elections #uppolls2017 pic.twitter.com/EM1kr3ptHf
— ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) March 8, 2017
2:30 PM: Jaunpur – Jafarabad’s BJP candidate Harendra Pratap Singh was arrested with four others for allegedly carrying voters to polling booths in two vehicles. However, Harendra Singh has denied the charges.
2:23 PM: Over 41 per cent voter turnout recorded till 2 pm in the seventh and last phase of Uttar Pradesh elections.
12:26 PM: Farmers in Mirzapur boycott voting at polling booth number 283 of Chunar assembly segment alleging lack of irrigation facilities & development
Mirzapur: Farmers boycott voting at polling booth number 283 of Chunar assembly segment alleging lack of irrigation facilities & development pic.twitter.com/jQvik9PX5t
— ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) March 8, 2017
12:16 PM: RSS’s Indresh Kumar casts his vote at polling booth number 49 of Varanasi Cantt
11:59 AM: Voter turnout of 22.84% recorded till 11 am
#UPpolls Voter turnout of 22.84% recorded till 11 am in 7th phase of polling pic.twitter.com/GCGULYqlXz
— ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) March 8, 2017
10:36 AM: Special arrangement for the women voters in Aurai
#UttarPradeshpolls2017 Special arrangements for women at polling booth no 394 in Aurai (Bhadohi) #internationalwomensday pic.twitter.com/B6iASeivKI
— ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) March 8, 2017
10:35 AM: BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi casts his vote
BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi casts his vote at booth number 76 of Varanasi North. pic.twitter.com/KSQtloFFfn
— ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) March 8, 2017
10:15 AM: 65-year old woman dies before casting her vote at polling booth number 357 of Mughalsarai assembly constituency
9:56 AM: 10.43% voting recorded till 9 am
10.43% voting recorded till 9 am in the 7th phase of UP elections 2017. pic.twitter.com/06tRK9dir6
— ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) March 8, 2017
9:40 AM: Apna Dal leader & Union Minister Anupriya Patel casts her vote at polling booth no. 335 of Mirzapur, says “we will win all 40 seats”.
Apna Dal leader & Union Minister Anupriya Patel casts her vote at polling booth no. 335 of Mirzapur, says “we will win all 40 seats”. pic.twitter.com/Sfoma30RkZ
— ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) March 8, 2017
8:50 AM: Congress leader Ajai Rai casts his vote at polling booth no. 389 of Varanasi South, says “7th phase is going to vote against ‘Jumlebaazi'”
Congress leader Ajai Rai casts his vote at polling booth no. 389 of Varanasi South, says “7th phase is going to vote against ‘Jumlebaazi'”: pic.twitter.com/GriRKqx9vf
— ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) March 8, 2017
#UPPolls2017: Voters queue up at polling booths 176,177,178 in Mirzapur to cast their vote in the last phase of Uttar Pradesh elections pic.twitter.com/ZfnHZPGBsh
— ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) March 8, 2017
8:00 AM: Voting in all 40 seats begins
People queue up at polling booth no. 68 in Varanasi North; BJP’s Ravindra Jaiswal, BSP’s Sujit Kumar Maurya contesting from the seat pic.twitter.com/RYZQtr4NNV
— ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) March 8, 2017
People cast their vote at polling booth 127 in Mohammadabad, Mukhtar Ansari’s brother Sibakatullah contesting from the seat as BSP candidate pic.twitter.com/nZsQIXeGhf
— ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) March 8, 2017
## Tight security has been put in place in these seven districts.
## Polling will be held between 7 AM to 5 PM in all constituencies, except the Naxal-hit Duddhi, Robertsganj and Chakia seats, where polling will end at 4 PM.
## The BJP is contesting 32 seats and its allies – the Apna Dal and the Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party – are contesting on 4 seats each.
## The BSP has fielded its nominees for all seats. While the SP is contesting 31 seats, its ally the Congress is in the race for the remaining seats.
