Campaigning ends for fourth phase of LS polls in UP

Campaigning ended on Saturday for 13 Lok Sabha seats going to polls in the fourth phase of voting in Uttar Pradesh on April 29.

The 13 seats are Kannauj, Shahjahanpur, Lakhimpur, Hardoi, Misrikh, Unnao, Farukkhabad, Etawah, Kanpur, Akbarpur, Jalaun, Jhansi, and Hamirpur. Five of them - Shahjahanpur, Hardoi, Misrikh, Etawah and Jalaun - are reserved seats.

A total of 23,888,367 voters in this phase will head to 27,513 polling booths to decide the fate of the 152 candidates in the fray.

This phase of elections will decide the fate of Dimple Yadav, wife of SP President Akhilesh Yadav, who is contesting again from Kannauj, former Union Ministers Salman Khurshid (Farukkhabad) and Shriprakash Jaiswal (Kanpur) (both Congress), UP Minister Satyadev Pachauri (Kanpur) and Sakshi Maharaj, who is seeking re-election from Unnao (both BJP).

The BJP has opted for new candidates in six constituencies including Shahjahanpur and Etawah and denying tickets to the sitting MPs could upset the party's calculations.

Uttar Pradesh's Chief Electoral Officer Lakku Venkateshwarlu said that all arrangements had been made for polling on Tuesday. In view of the intense heat wave prevailing in the region, special arrangements had been made for water coolers and fans for voters while they queue up to cast their votes.

--IANS

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