Thirteen Lok Sabha seats, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Varanasi constituency, are set to go to polls on Saturday in the seventh and final phase of the general elections.
Uttar Pradesh, which contributes 80 members to the Lower House of Parliament, has seen polling in all seven phases. Additionally, a bypoll for the Duddhi (ST) assembly constituency in Sonbhadra district will also take place on Saturday.
The bypoll follows the disqualification of BJP MLA Ram Dular after his conviction in a rape case. Six candidates are vying for the vacant seat.
The parliamentary constituencies where voting will occur include Maharajganj, Gorakhpur, Kushinagar, Deoria, Bansgaon (SC), Ghosi, Salempur, Ballia, Ghazipur, Chandauli, Varanasi, Mirzapur, and Robertsganj (SC), spread across 11 districts.
Uttar Pradesh is witnessing a direct contest between the BJP-led NDA and the India bloc coalition, comprising the Samajwadi Party and Congress.
Prime Minister Modi is seeking a third term from Varanasi among the 143 candidates in the fray.
Other prominent seats include Gorakhpur, represented five times by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, and constituencies like Chandauli, Maharajganj, and Mirzapur, where Union ministers Mahendra Nath Pandey, Pankaj Chaudhary, and Anupriya Patel are contesting, respectively.
In Ghazipur, Afzal Ansari, brother of the late Mukhtar Ansari, is competing, while in Ballia, former Prime Minister Chandrashekhar's son Neeraj Shekhar is running.
Campaigning concluded on Thursday evening. Of the 144 candidates in this phase, 134 are men and 10 are women. There are 11 general category seats and two reserved for scheduled castes.
NDA's star campaigners included Prime Minister Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, and Defense Minister Rajnath Singh. The INDIA bloc's campaign featured Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav with his wife Dimple Yadav, who held roadshows in Varanasi and Gorakhpur.
Rahul Gandhi contested from Rae Bareli in the fifth phase, while Akhilesh Yadav ran from Kannauj in the fourth phase and Dimple Yadav from Mainpuri in the third phase.
During the campaign, the BJP alleged that the India bloc would introduce Muslim reservations and halt the Ayodhya Ram temple project if elected. The opposition urged voters to reject the BJP to "save" the Constitution and democracy.
Key BJP allies, the NISHAD Party and Om Prakash Rajbhar's SBSP, have candidates in this phase. Apna Dal's (Sonelal's) Anupriya Patel is also seeking reelection.
Mayawati's BSP has fielded candidates, including in Varanasi and Gorakhpur.
State Chief Electoral Officer Navdeep Rinwa announced there are 25,056,877 voters in the 13 Lok Sabha seats for this phase, including 13,310,897 men, 11,744,922 women, and 1,058 transgender individuals. Polling parties were dispatched to their respective centers on Friday.
Rinwa reminded voters that mobile phones or wireless sets are prohibited inside polling booths. Due to the heat, polling stations will be equipped with ORS, medical kits, cold water, and proper shade.
Voting will be held from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday.
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