Uttar Pradesh

In 2021, during the peak of the farmers' protest on October 4, Union Minister of State for Home Ajay Teni's son mowed down half a dozen people under his car, including four farmers protesting against the now repealed three contentious farm laws. It was widely perceived that the farmers' anger would cost the BJP electorally in the district and to some extent in western Uttar Pradesh.

The opposition was quick to use the incident as an example of 'law-and-order' situation in the state. However, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath promptly handed over the case to the CBI and gave compensation and a job to Gupta's widow. The matter died a natural death, and Gorakhpur has now given a clean sweep to the BJP with Adityanath winning his first Assembly election with an appreciable margin.

In the wake of show of strength displayed by former Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje on her birthday on March 8 and the controversial statements made by her supporters, Rajasthan BJP in-charge Arun Singh issued a warning to such workers.

The state's Chief Electoral Officer Ajay Kumar Shukla said that 84 counting centres had been set up across Uttar Pradesh. "There will be uninterrupted videography right from opening of strong rooms and taking EVMs to counting tables to the counting of votes," Shukla said, adding said that postal ballots will be counted first and then EVM ballots from 8.30 a.m.

A day after Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav alleged malpractices, a BJP delegation on Wednesday met EC and requested it to ensure that the counting centres are fully protected The BJP delegation of Union Minister and election in-charge of Uttar Pradesh, Dharmendra Pradhan, Union Ministers Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and G. Kishan Reddy and party leader Om Pathak, met the Election Commission on Wednesday.

Addressing a hurriedly convened press conference here, he alleged that this was being done especially for 47 seats that BJP had won with a margin of less than 5,000 votes in 2017. He said that a truck carrying EVMs had been intercepted by party workers in Varanasi while two other trucks managed to speed away. The SP chief said that ballots had been found in Bareilly and Sonbhadra.

The voter turnout figure was approximate trend as the data from some polling stations takes time to reach it. As per the EC data, in Ambedkar Nagar district registered 62.22 per cent turnout, Ballia 53.93 per cent, Balrampur 48.64 per cent, Basti 56.81%, Deoria 52.30 per cent, Gorakhpur 55.17%, Kushinagar 56.08 per cent, Maharajganj 59.28% , Sant Kabir Nagar 54.39%, and Siddharthnagar district recorded 50.19%.

Over 46 per cent voter turnout was registered till 3 p.m. in the sixth phase of the Uttar Pradesh assembly polls, the Election Commission said on Thursday. The Election Commission also said that 46.70 percent of voter turnout figure was an approximate trend as the data from some polling stations takes time to reach.

"Yesterday when I was going to Ghat from airport, I saw some BJP workers - who have nothing else except hooliganism in their brains - stopping my vehicle. They hit my car with sticks and told me to go back. Then I realised that they're gone," she declared. Mamata Banerjee was in Varanasi to campaign for Akhilesh Yadav and his Samajwadi Party, which is widely seen as the ruling Bhartiya Janata Party's biggest rival.

A voter turnout of 21.79 per cent was registered till 11 a.m. on Thursday in the ongoing sixth phase of Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls, the Election Commission of India (ECI) said. A voter turnout of 21.79 per cent was registered till 11 a.m. on Thursday in the ongoing sixth phase of Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls, the Election Commission of India (ECI) said.