Lucknow: State Chief Electoral Officer Navdeep Rinwa told in a press conference held in the press conference hall of the Chief Electoral Officer’s office that polling in 14 Lok Sabha constituencies 38-Sultanpur, 39-Pratapgarh, 51-Phoolpur, 52-Allahabad, 55-Ambedkarnagar, 58-Shravasti, 60-Dumariaganj, 61-Basti, 62-Sant Kabir Nagar, 68-Lalganj (SC), 69-Azamgarh, 73-Jaunpur, 74-Machhlishahr (SC), 78-Bhadohi and Assembly by-election constituency 292-Gainsari and re-polling at 343-polling station Khiriya Pamaran under 40-Farrukhabad Lok Sabha constituency has been completed peacefully. Voting started at 7:00 AM and ended at 6:00 PM.
The constituencies of the sixth phase are located in 15 districts- Sultanpur, Pratapgarh, Prayagraj, Ambedkarnagar, Ayodhya, Balrampur, Shravasti, Siddharthnagar, Basti, Sant Kabir Nagar, Gorakhpur, Azamgarh, Jaunpur, Varanasi, Bhadohi and Assembly by-elections are located in 292-Gainsari district Balrampur and 343-Purnapolling station Khiriya Pamaran district Etah.
On the basis of information received from the districts till 6:00 PM, an average of 54.02 percent voting has taken place in 14 Lok Sabha constituencies of the state. In which 38-Sultanpur 55.50 percent voting took place, 39-Pratapgarh 51.60 percent, 51-Phulpur 48.94 percent, 52-Allahabad 51.75 percent, 55-Ambedkarnagar 61.54 percent, 58-Shravasti 52.76 percent, 60-Dumariaganj 51.94 percent, 61-Basti 56.67 percent, 62-Sant Kabir Nagar 52.63 percent, 68-Lalganj (SC) 54.14 percent, 69-Azamgarh 56.07 percent, 73-Jaunpur 55.52 percent, 74-Machhlishahr (SC) 54.43 percent, 78-Bhadohi 53.07 percent voting took place and in Assembly bye-constituency 292-Gainsadi 51.10 percent voting took place Voting and re-polling at 01 polling station 343-Primary School Khiriya Pamaran under 40-Farrukhabad Lok Sabha constituency was 73.99 percent.
For the purpose of keeping the voting process free and fair, webcasting was arranged at 14,480 polling stations for effective supervision, which was supervised at all three levels by the District Election Officer, Chief Election Officer and Election Commission of India. Apart from the above, videography was also arranged at 5057 polling stations.
For the sixth phase of postal ballot voting, 40,175 voters in the eligible categories (viz. voters above 85 years of age, disabled, essential services and polling personnel) voted through postal ballot. Voters above 85 years of age and disabled voters who had opted for postal ballot were made to vote by the polling team by visiting their homes. To make the process free, fair and transparent, a micro observer and videographer were deployed with the polling party and the schedule of the polling party was made available to the candidates to send themselves or their agent to see the entire process and the list of eligible voters of this category was also made available to the candidates. The entire polling process was videographed.
Apart from this, postal ballots were also sent to a total of 35,532 service voters by the Returning Officer through electronic medium (ETPBS). EDC has been issued to 12,494 personnel. 14 general observers, 08 police observers and 18 expenditure observers were also deployed by the Commission to keep a close watch on the polling. Apart from the above, 2,192 sector magistrates, 282 zonal magistrates, 24 static magistrates and 2,833 micro observers were also deployed.
Apart from this, 01 Senior General Observer, 01 Senior Police Observer and 01 Senior Expenditure Observer were also deployed by the Election Commission of India at the state level, who stayed in the field and supervised the entire election process. Today, on 25 May 2024, some complaints were received during the voting, which were resolved timely by the district officials.
In the election, EVMs and VVPATs required for voting for all 28,171 polling booths and sufficient number of reserve EVMs and VVPATs were arranged in different districts and wherever complaints were received during the voting, immediate action was taken to replace EVMs and VVPATs. According to the information received from the districts, during the mock poll, a total of 191 BUs, 251 CUs and 291 VVPATs were changed and after the commencement of voting, till 6:00 PM, a total of 72 BUs, 62 CUs and 215 VVPATs were changed. In the Assembly by-election Gainsadi, during the mock poll, 02 BUs, 10 CUs and 08 VVPATs were changed and after the commencement of voting, till 6:00 PM, 01 BU, 01 CU, 04 VVPATs were changed. In 343-Khiria Pamaran re-poll, after the commencement of mock poll and voting, no BU, CU and VVPAT were changed till 6:00 PM.
Adequate number of paramilitary forces were deployed to conduct the election in a peaceful manner. The responsibility of protecting the EVM strong room has also been given to paramilitary forces. The election was conducted in a completely peaceful manner and no report of any untoward incident was received.
