Lok Sabha polls: 55 candidates left in fray for five seats of Uttarakhand

One independent candidate from Almora has withdrawn from the contest leaving only 55 candidates in the fray for the April 19 Lok Sabha polls in Uttarakhand.

Arjun Kumar Dev, the independent candidate from Almora, withdrew on the last date for withdrawal of nominations on Saturday, Additional Chief Electoral Officer Vijay Kumar Jogdande said.

Dev was the lone candidate to withdraw, he said.

There are now a total of 55 candidates in the fray for the five Lok Sabha constituencies in the state which go to polls in the first phase on April 19.

There are 11 candidates in the fray for Tehri seat, 13 for Pauri Garhwal, 7 for Almora, 10 for Nainital and 14 for Haridwar, Jogdande said.

The additional chief electoral officer said that publishing and broadcasting of exit poll results will be completely prohibited during the entire election process as per the Election Commission's instructions.

Jogdande said that there will be a ban on the publication and telecast of exit polls from 7 am on April 19 to 6:30 pm on June 1.

All media houses will have to ensure compliance with these restrictions, he said.

Along with this, conducting opinion polls and publishing and broadcasting its results 48 hours before the end of voting will also be completely prohibited, Jogdande said.