UP elections phase 6: PM Modi, Amit Shah urge people to vote

As the sixth phase for the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections begins on Thursday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi appealed to voters to exercise their franchise. Taking to Twitter, PM Modi requested all to participate in the polls by voting and said that in a democracy, every vote counts.

"The festival of democracy in Uttar Pradesh has entered its sixth phase today. It is my humble request to all the voters that they must participate in this festival with their votes. Every single vote of yours (is) the power of democracy!" he tweeted. Union Minister Amit Shah also appealed to voters to vote enthusiastically so to choose a dynast and corruption-free government in the state.

In his tweet in Hindi, Shah said, "Today is the sixth phase of polling in Uttar Pradesh. I appeal to all the voters that only a strong government free from corruption and dynast can take Uttar Pradesh forward on the path of progress. Therefore, vote diligently to keep the state at the forefront of development." Polling for the sixth phase of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections began at 7 am today and will continue till 6 pm.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath cast his vote at Primary School Gorakhnath Kanya Nagar Kshetra, in Gorakhpur. Polling is being held for 57 Assembly constituencies spread across 10 districts including Gorakhpur, Ambedkarnagar, Ballia, Balrampur, Basti, Deoria, and Kushinagar among others.

A total of 2,14,62,816 electorates including 1,14,63,113 males, 99,98,383 females and 1,320 third genders are expected to exercise their right to franchise to decide the fate of 676 candidates. With 676 candidates in the fray in the sixth phase of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath tops the chart of the prominent faces of this phase. The Chief Minister is contesting the polls from Gorakhpur Urban. The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) has pitted Khwaja Shamsuddin while Samajwadi Party (SP) has fielded Subhavati Shukla, who is the wife of late Upendra Dutt Shukla, a former BJP leader, against Adityanath. Meanwhile, Congress' Chetna Pandey will also fight against Adityanath.

Besides Adityanath, prominent faces in this phase are state Congress president Ajay Kumar Lallu, who is contesting from Tamkuhi Raj seat, Swami Prasad Maurya, who quit as minister to join the Samajwadi Party and is contesting from Fazilnagar seat, and Leader of Opposition in the state assembly and senior Samajwadi Party leader Ram Govind Chaudhary, who is contesting from Bansdih seat. Congress' Ajay Kumar Lallu is facing BSP's Sanjay Gupta and SP's Udaynarayan Gupta on Tamkuhi Raj seat.

SP's Swami Prasad Maurya will contest from Fazilnagar seat against BJP candidate Surendra Singh Kushwaha, the son of incumbent BJP MLA Ganga Singh Kushwaha. Maurya will face BSP's Ilyas Ansari, Congress' Sunil Singh and Aam Aadmi Party's (AAP) Harish Chandra Yadav. SP leader Ram Govind Chaudhary is facing Congress' Puneet Pathak on Bansdih seat. Puneet's grandfather, Bachha Pathak is a former vice president of the state Congress. His grandfather had been an MLA from Bansdih for eleven terms between 1967 and 1996 and was also a minister in the UP government. SP leader Ram Govind Chaudhary also faces Nishad Party's Ketki Singh and BSP's Manti Rajbhar.

Polling for the seventh phase, which will be the last phase, will be held on March 7. The counting of votes will be done on March 10.