UP polls fifth phase: Campaign ends, voting on Sunday

Voting for the fifth phase of Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections for 61 seats, covering twelve districts of the state, will begin on Sunday at 7 am. 

Uttar Pradesh is going to the polls on Sunday with Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Samajwadi Party, Bahujan Samajwadi Party (BSP) and Congress seen as the main contenders. 

The voting will begin at 7 am and end at 6 pm. As per the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) imposed by the Election Commission, campaigning for the state Assembly came to an end at 6 PM on Friday. 

As many as 692 candidates are in the fray for the fifth phase and over two crore voters will decide their fate. The seats are spread across twelve districts of Amethi, Raebareli, Sultanpur, Chitrakoot, Pratapgarh, Kaushambi, Prayagraj, Barabanki, Ayodhya, Bahraich, Shravasti and Gonda. 

In 2017, BJP had won 38 seats out of 55, while the SP had retained 15 and the Congress had won two seats. 

Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya is contesting from Sirathu assembly seat in the Kaushambi district. While Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader Aradhana Mishra is fighting from Rampur Khas seat of Pratapgarh. Raghuraj Pratap Singh alias Raja Bhaiya, is in the fray from Kunda.

The ministers who are in the fray are Siddharth Nath Singh from Allahabad West, Nand Gopal Gupta Nadi from Allahabad South and Ramapati Shastri from Mankapur and Rajendra Singh alias Moti Singh from Patti (Pratapgarh). State's Chief Election Officer Ajay Kumar Shukla said that necessary instructions have been given to the administration to make proper arrangements so that voters do not face any kind of trouble at the polling booths.