Lucknow, March 3: Touted as a direct battle between the alliances led by BJP and the Samajwadi Party, 57 seats are up for grabs in the 6th phase of the Uttar Pradesh election today. There are 676 candidates in the fray for these constituencies spread over 10 districts- Gorakhpur, Ambedkarnagar, Ballia, Balrampur, Basti, Deoria, Kushinagar, Maharajganj, Sant Kabir Nagar, and Siddharthnagar. In the 2017 polls, BJP won 46 of these seats. This phase has assumed significance as UP CM Yogi Adityanath is in the poll fray from Gorakhpur Urban.

The voting for 292 out of 403 assembly seats are done and the polling has now moved to the Purvanchal region of the state where 111 seats are up for grabs. In the previous assembly polls, the BJP had won 47 out of the 57 seats at stake. The SP had won just two and the BSP five. 

The voting percentage till  3pm in the sixth phase of assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh was 46.70 percent.

UP Records 46.70 % Voter Turnout Till 3 Pm:

PM Modi addresses rally in Chandauli ahead of 7th phase of UP polls: 

The voting percentage till 1 pm in the sixth phase of assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh was 36.33 percent.

UP Records 36.33% Voter Turnout Till 1 Pm:

The voting percentage till 11 am in the sixth phase of assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh was 21.79 percent.

UP Records 21.79% Voter Turnout Till 11 Am:

RPN Singh, Who Recently Joined the BJP, Casts His Vote:

The voting percentage till 9 am in the sixth phase of assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh was 8.69 percent.

UP Records 8.69% Voter Turnout Till 9 Am :

Shubhawati Shukla, SP Candidate Contesting Against CM Yogi Adityanath, Casts Her Vote :

UP CM Yogi Adityanath Casts His Vote:

Among the 676 candidates in the fray this time are Yogi Adityanath from Gorakhpur Urban fighting his first assembly polls, state Congress president Lallu from Tamkuhi Raj seat and Swami Prasad Maurya, who quit as BJP minister to join the Samajwadi Party, from Fazilnagar.  Uttar Pradesh Assembly Elections 2022: From CM Yogi Adityanath to Vinay Shankar Tiwari, List of Five Key Candidates in Phase 6 of UP Polls 

The Samajwadi Party has pitted the wife of late Upendra Dutt Shukla, a former BJP leader, against Adityanath. Azad Samaj Party founder Chandrashekhar Azad is also a contesting against the chief minister.  Uttar Pradesh Assembly Elections 2022: From Gorakhpur to Pathardeva, Here Are The Five Key Contests in The Sixth Phase

Leader of Opposition in the outgoing assembly and Samajwadi Party leader Ram Govind Chaudhary is contesting from Bansdih.

Many incumbent ministers' electoral fate will also be decided in this phase.

They include Surya Pratap Shahi trying his luck from Pathardeva seat, Satish Chandra Dwivedi from Itwa, Jai Pratap Singh from Bansi, Shree Ram Chauhan from Khajani and Jai Prakash Nishad from Rudrapur.

Surendra Singh, the incumbent MLA from Bairia in Ballia, who joined the Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP), a new entrant in Uttar Pradesh electoral politics, will face the electorate in this phase.

He had crossed over to the VIP after being denied a ticket by the BJP.

The campaigning in this phase witnessed the political parties go on an all-out attack on each other.

The seventh and last phase of Uttar Pradesh assembly elections 2022 will be held on March 7 while the counting of votes is scheduled to be held on March 10.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 03, 2022 07:00 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).