UP polls: Polling begins for fourth phase in 59 constituencies

New Delhi, Feb 23: The polling for the fourth phase of Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections started in 59 constituencies at 7 am on Wednesday. In this phase, the fate of 624 candidates will be sealed in the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) today.

The state is seeing a multi-cornered contest with Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Samajwadi Party (SP)-Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) alliance, and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and Congress as principal contenders.

In the 2017 elections, the BJP had won 51, four had gone to the Samajwadi Party, and three to the Bahujan Samaj Party. The BJP's ally Apna Dal (Sonelal) had bagged one seat. Lakhimpur, which had hogged national news headlines after eight people, including four farmers, were killed in violence on October 3 will go to the polls in the fourth phase.

Among the prominent candidates in this phase is Uttar Pradesh Law Minister Brijesh Pathak who is facing Samajwadi party candidate and two-time corporator Surendra Singh Gandhi in the Lucknow Cantonment seat.

Pathak had won the Lucknow Central seat in 2017. Another minister Ashutosh Tandon is in the fray from Lucknow East seat. The Sarojini Nagar Assembly segment will witness a battle between former ED officer Rajeshwar Singh fielded by the BJP and Abhishek Mishra who had been a minister in the Samajwadi Party government.

59 Assembly seats are spread across the districts of Pilibhit, Lakhimpur Kheri, Sitapur, Hardoi, Unnao, Lucknow, Rae Bareli, Banda, and Fatehpur.

Voting for the remaining three phases will take place on February 27, March 3, and 7.