An approximate voter turnout of 58 per cent was recorded in the fifth phase of the Lok Sabha elections in Uttar Pradesh, where polling was held in 14 constituencies spread across 21 districts on Monday. Polling for by-election to Lucknow East assembly constituency was also held on Monday and 52.45 per cent voters turned out to exercise their franchise. The voting began at 7 am and concluded at 6 pm. UP Chief Electoral Officer Navdeep Rinwa said here on Monday that during the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the voter turnout was 58.38 per cent in these constituencies till 6 pm in the state and it was likely to exceed by 0.5 per cent. The figures may be revised later. Amethi recorded a voter turnout of 54.17 per cent, Banda 59.46 per cent, Barabanki 66.89 per cent, Faizabad 58.96 per cent, Fatehpur 56.90 per cent, Gonda 51.45 per cent, Hamirpur 60.36 per cent, Jalaun 53.44 per cent, Jhansi 63.57 per cent, Kaisarganj 55.47 per cent, Kaushambi 52.60 per cent, Lucknow 52.03 per cent, Mohanlalganj 62.53 per cent and Rae Bareli 57.85 per cent, according to the Election Commission of India. The polling percentage in the Lucknow East assembly constituency was around 52.25 per cent. In 2019, the Bharatiya Janata Party had won 13 out of these 14 Lok Sabha seats, with only Rae Bareli going to Congress leader Sonia Gandhi. The 14 constituencies where polling was held in the fifth phase included Mohanlalganj, Lucknow, Rae Bareli, Amethi, Jalaun, Jhansi, Hamirpur, Banda, Fatehpur, Barabanki, Kaushambi, Faizabad, Kaiserganj and Gonda. The CEO said the polling was peaceful with no report of untoward incident received from any of the 14 constituencies which went to poll on Monday. He, however, said a little over 100 complaints relating to malfunction of electronic voting machines (EVMS), fake voting, slow polling and discrimination among voters by the polling staff were received. In Fatehpur, BJP candidate and union minister of state Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti alleged attack by Samajwadi Party workers in Jehanabad. She alleged that the SP workers attempted to attack her when she was visiting polling booths in Jehanabad. The CEO said 100 per cent polling was recorded in three polling booths of Mehrauni assembly segment in Lalitpur district which is part of Jhansi Lok Sabha seat. He said the unique feat was achieved due to special efforts of the district election officer who paid for the air ticket of one voter from Mumbai to Bhopal. Uttar Pradesh, the state with the highest representation in the 543-member Lok Sabha, along with West Bengal and Bihar are having polling in all the phases. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh (Lucknow), Union Minister for Women and Child Development Smriti Irani (Amethi), Minister of State for Housing and Urban Affairs Kaushal Kishor (Mohanlalganj), Minister of State for Consumer Affairs Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti (Fatehpur) and Union Minister of State for MSME Bhanu Pratap Singh Verma (Jalaun) are among those in the fray. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is in the fray from Rae Bareli, represented by his mother and former party president Sonia Gandhi earlier. Former Union minister Pradeep Jain Aditya represents Congress in Jhansi, while ex-SP state president Naresh Uttam Patel contests from Fatehpur. Brij Bhushan Sharan Singhs son Karan Bhusan Singh is the BJP candidate in Kaiserganj. Other notable candidates include Tanuj Punia in Barabanki, Shreya Verma in Gonda, and Pushpendra Saroj in Kaushambi. The BJP has fielded 11 sitting MPs, with new candidates in Barabanki and Kaiserganj. The SP is contesting 10 seats, and its INDIA bloc partner Congress, four. The BSP is contesting all 14 seats in this phase.

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