(To be published/broadcast after 1700 hrs today)

Lucknow, Apr 26 (UNI) Star-studded campaigning for the crucial Phase-V of the Uttar Pradesh elections to 57 assembly seats spread across nine districts ended this evening, where polling is slated to be held on Saturday next.

Election for the Khaga assembly seat in Fatehpur district was countermanded following death of the Congress candidate Munna Lal Maurya in a road accident this morning.

Election campaigning, which witnessed a lacklustre spree in the last four phases, however, picked up in this phase with several top political leaders and cinestars canvassing for their respective party candidates.

Phase-V is crucial for the country's politics as the assembly segments in the parliamentary constituencies of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Congress president Sonia Gandhi will be at stake.

Political strength of former Prime Minister and Jan Morcha founder V P Singh will also be tested in this phase in his home constituency of Fatehpur.

Mr Vajpayee, MP from Lucknow, and Ms Gandhi, MP from Rae Bareli addressed election meetings last evening. Congress MP Rahul Gandhi's constituency Amethi will also witness some close contest in this phase.

While Mr Vajpayee during his single election speech in the state capital last night ruled out differences with former UP Chief Minister Kalyan Singh and asked the voters to support BJP like they have done in Punjab and Uttarakhand, Mrs Sonia Gandhi, addressing her first-ever election meeting in the BJP stronghold of Lucknow in the recent past criticised non-Congress governments in UP for playing with the sentiments of the common man.

She said the BJP, the ruling SP and the BSP have ignored the aspirations of the people in a bid to remain in power.

Former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee along with several party leaders, including BJP president Rajnath Singh, have pitched for the party candidates while Congress president Sonia Gandhi, her MP son Rahul and daughter Priyanka had gone all out to woo the voters.

However, Priyanka had only campaigned in Rae Bareli and Amethi, while the mother-son duo had concentrated in the rest of the state.

Ruling Samajwadi Party president and Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav along with his close confidant Amar Singh and accompanied by cinestars Jaya Bachchan and Jaya Prada left no stone unturned to regain power in the state.

Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo Mayawati had taken the rivals single-handedly by addressing a series of meetings daily.

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