The seventh phase of Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections has started today. Polling started at 7 am and will continue till 6 pm in nine districts, including Azamgarh, Mau, Jaunpur, Ghazipur, Chandauli, Varanasi, Mirzapur, Bhadohi and Sonbhadra.
The last phase of Uttar Pradesh elections will witness 2.06 crore eligible voters sealing the fate of 613 candidates who will be contesting for 54 seats. These include 11 reserved seats for SCs and two for STs.
Earlier, in 2017, the Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP), together with its allies Appna Dal and SBSP won the elections with 29 seats. The Samajwadi Party (SP) had then secured 11 seats.
It is crucial for BJP to win the phase seven of UP elections as it involves assembly seats in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's parliamentary constituency, Varanasi.
The district holds various seats for at least three ministers in the Yogi Adityanath government. These include Tourism minister Neelkanth Tiwari in Varanasi South, Anil Rajbhar in Shivpur and Ravindra Jaiswal in Varanasi North.
The BJP has also fielded state ministers Girish Yadav in Jaunpur and Ramashankar Singh Patel in Mirzapur's Marihan. Notably, Dara Singh Chauhan has been fielded from Ghosi assembly seat in Mau district.
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The election campaigns for seventh phase ended on Saturday after a consistent batter of claims between all contesting parties.
The biggest highlight of all the campaigns included PM Narendra Modi’s mega roadshow in Varanasi from from Maldahiya to Vishwanath Dham. After offering prayers at Vishwanath Dham Temple, PM Modi garlanded the statue of Madan Mohan Malviya located at BHU Gate.
Former UP Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav, who is also the patron of SP, made a rare appearance in Jaunpur while Akhilesh Yadav organised a joint rally with ally Jayant Chaudhary of the RLD amongst other politicians.
BSP chief Mayawati also stood ahead in campaigning in the Purvanchal region. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi held roadshows in several places too.
After the seventh phase today, the counting of votes for all five states, including, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Manipur and Goa will take place on March 10.
