Uttar Pradesh by-elections: Polling in Gorakhpur, Phulpur picks up after sluggish turnout in morning hours

Lucknow: After a poor start, polling in Gorakhpur and Phulpur parliamentary constituencies in Uttar Pradesh picked up as voters started queuing up outside polling booths, an election official said. Till 1 pm, 30.20 percent voting had been registered in Gorakhpur, where bypolls were necessitated after incumbent MP Yogi Adityanath quit as he took over as the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh. In Phulpur, the parliamentary constituency of Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya, voting till 1 p.m. was not very impressive and only 19.20 percent votes had been cast. Heavy security deployment has been made in both the parliamentary constituencies. Voting started at 7 am and will continue till 5 pm, a poll panel official said. The voting percentage till 11 am was poor and the average polling in both constituencies was 14.50 percent. Voting in Gorakhpur was 16.80 percent till 11 am and in Phulpur, 12.20 percent till 11 am. Some snags in the electronic voting machines (EVMs) have been reported from some places. [caption id=“attachment_4385317” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Chief minister Yogi Adityanath after casting his vote. PTI[/caption] Polling was held up at Kidwai college in Allahabad (East) for some time due to a technical glitch. Adityanath, who vacated the Gorakhpur seat after his elevation as the Chief Minister, had held it since 1998. Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) Upendra Dutt Shukla is in the fray for the seat this time. Gorakhpur has 970 polling centres and 2,141 polling stations. There are 19.49 lakh eligible voters including over 8 lakh women. The Samajwadi Party (SP) has fielded Praveen Nishad in Gorakhpur. The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) have extended their support to the SP candidate. The Congress is fighting on its own and has named Surahita Kareem as its candidate. The Phulpur seat of Allahabad, which was represented by Deputy chief minister Keshav Prasad Maurya, has 793 polling centres and 2,059 polling stations. A total of 19.63 lakh voters will decide the fate of 22 candidates. The BJP has fielded Kaushlendra Singh Patel who is pitted against Nagendra Singh Patel of the SP. The BSP, here too, is supporting the SP candidate. The Congress has fielded Manish Mishra as its candidate. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath was among the first to cast his vote on Sunday while his deputy Keshav Prasad Maurya cast his vote in Phulpur along with his wife and son.