– Rajesh Mishra
Lucknow : In Uttar Pradesh (Uttar Pradesh), the record of the previous elections could not be broken even after the overwhelming majority of votes were cast in the second phase (Phase II) elections. Despite the best weather, more time and a peaceful atmosphere, this time the voting figures have been slightly behind as compared to the 2017 assembly elections. About 63 percent votes have been cast in the second polling held on Monday in 55 assembly seats in nine districts of the state. The final figures of polling of the Election Commission have not been released yet.
According to the information received from the Election Commission, 60.44 percent votes were cast at 5 pm, while in the last elections this figure was 65.53 percent. More than 65 percent votes have been cast in the highest voting minority-dominated districts of Saharanpur, Morajabad and Amroha. The lowest voter turnout was around 55 per cent in Shahjahanpur and Badaun districts.
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Fake voting in assembly seat
Barring sporadic incidents at a few places and incidents of electronic vote machine failure, the second phase of polling has been peaceful. In Nakud of Saharanpur, Samajwadi candidate and former minister Dharam Singh Saini filed a complaint of faulty voting in the machine’s fault in the Behat assembly seat of the same district.
BJP lodged an objection regarding the voting of women of a particular community in Shahjahanpur. The BJP alleged that bogus votes were being cast under the guise of hijab. Two women who were going to cast fake votes during polling in Rampur district were caught. In Sambhal, BJP candidate Rajesh Singhal sat on a dharna alleging low voting in his favor and created a ruckus. Alleging fake voting, the BJP candidate staged a sit-in at Bal Vidya Mandir polling booth in Sambhal city.
District Election Officer found the allegation to be untrue
Additional Chief Electoral Officer Brahmdev Ram Tiwari said that the investigation was conducted after taking cognizance of the incident of Behat in Saharanpur. No such incident was found to happen. He said that the Saharanpur District Election Officer found the allegation to be untrue. He said that cognizance of the Shahjahanpur incident was also taken and the District Election Officer was asked to investigate. Additional Chief Electoral Officer said that teams were sent from where the case of purdah drug was told, but no such thing was found anywhere.
Election officials said that 60.31 per cent votes were cast in the second phase at 5 pm, in which Bareilly 58 per cent and Saharanpur 67 per cent. Till 5 evening, 55.91 in Badaun, 60.10 in Rampur, 57.71 in Shahjahanpur, 56.88 in Sambhal, 65.51 in Amroha and 64 percent in Moradabad. In Bijnor, 62 per cent votes were cast till 5 pm.