Uttar Pradesh reported a voter turnout of 57.03 per cent in the 6th phase of polling, which could go up by a few per cent, in the 49 Assembly constituencies which went to the polls on Saturday. During the 2012 assembly elections these constituencies had reported a voter turnout of 55.04 per cent.

Manipur reported a voter turnout of 84 per cent in 72 per cent of the 38 Assembly constituencies where polling was held on Saturday. During the 2012 Assembly polls the 38 Assembly constituencies had reported a voter turnout of 77.18 per cent.

Sudeep Jain, Director General Election Commission told newspersons that it would take a day or two for the polling parties to return from the remaining 28 per cent of the Assembly constituencies in Manipur. The final figure for the voter turnout will be available only when these poll parties return. Manipur is to see the second and last phase of elections for the remaining 22 Assembly constituencies in the State on March 8 when the seventh and final phase of elections for the remaining Assembly constituencies in Uttar Pradesh will also take place.

Polling in both Uttar Pradesh and Manipur passed off peacefully officials said barring a few incidents of ``poll intimidation” which was reported from Manipur.

Polls were held in six districts in the state including Imphal East, Imphal West and Bishnupur. In at least five of the Assembly constituencies in the state including Sekmai, Nambol and Sugnu there were only two contestants contesting against one another. Saikul constituency in the state had the maximum number of contestants in a single constituency at 11.

“The Commission used over 19,700 Control Units and over 22,000 Ballot Units while Voter-Verified Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) was used in five Assembly constituencies in Uttar Pradesh including Gorakhpur and Balia during this phase of elections. The Commission had to replace 163 Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) or 0.82 per cent of the EVMs used while 72 VVPAT or 1.59 per cent of the machines used needed to be replaced,” Vijay Dev, Deputy Election Commissioner, said.

Azamgarh, Ballia, Deoria, Gorakhpur, Kushi Nagar and Mau, which is the largest constituency with an electorate of over 4.4 lakhs, were among the districts which went to the polls on Saturday.

Gorakhpur (Urban) with 23 candidates had the maximum number of candidates among the 49 Assembly constituencies which went to polls in UP on Saturday. There were 17 Assembly constituency which had more than one woman candidate which went to the polls in UP on Saturday.

Among the key candidates in the fray in Uttar Pradesh were Swami Prasad Maurya, former BSP leader and Leader of Opposition, Mukhtar Ansari, Former BSP Leader and Surya Pratap Shahi, a former BJP State President.

The authorities seized cash worth ₹ 6.54 crore during the sixth phase of voting in UP while liquor worth ₹ 5.91 crore and drugs worth ₹ 2.50 crores were also seized. In addition silver worth over ₹ 24 lakh was also seized, Commission officials said.

Uttar Pradesh is to see one more phase of elections on March 8 with votes for all 403 Assembly constituencies being counted on March 11.

Meanwhile, the Commission on Saturday released the final figures of the voter turnout in the first five phases of elections in Uttar Pradesh. In the first phase the state reported a voter turnout of 63.84 per cent as compared to 61.04 per cent in 2012 while in the second phase the voter turnout finally settled at 66.16 per cent as against 65.17 per cent in 2012. During the third stage the final turnout was 61.43 per cent as compared to 59.96 per cent in 2012, while in the fourth phase the final turnout was 61.21 per cent (60.20 per cent). In the fifth phase the state reported a final turnout of 57.30 per cent as compared to 57.05 per cent in 2012.

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