A 'Rani vs Rani' contest in Amethi has drawn much interest as UP votes in the fifth phase today
Highlights
- Amethi among areas voting today in Phase 5 of UP elections
- Wife of Congress's Sanjay Sinh is up against his first wife in Amethi
- Rape-accused minister Gayatri Prajapti is also a contestant in this phase
The Gandhi family stronghold Amethi, represented in parliament by Rahul Gandhi, and the temple town of Ayodhya are among the areas voting today in the
fifth of seven-phase elections in Uttar Pradesh. A 57.36 per cent turnout was recorded till 5 pm across the 11 districts - including five bordering Nepal - that are voting today. In an increasingly acrimonious campaign for India's most politically important state, words like "Gujarat's donkeys" and "Kasab" came up during rallies. On Sunday evening, there was a flag march by central forces in sensitive areas close to the Terai region in Nepal's foothills.
Here is your 10-point cheat sheet on the fifth phase of elections in Uttar Pradesh:
The ruling Samajwadi Party holds 37 of the 51 seats voting today; the BJP and the Congress have five each and Mayawati's Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) has three.
Controversial state minister Gayatri Prajapati, accused of rape, is among prominent contestants in this round. He will face Ameeta Sinh of the Congress and Garima Sinh of the BJP.
Ameeta Sinh is the wife of Congress leader Sanjay Sinh, the "Raja of Amethi" and Garima Sinh is his estranged first wife. The "Rani vs Rani" contest has drawn much interest.
The five assembly seats in Amethi have the maximum number of contestants in this phase - 24.
While campaigning ahead of this round, Prime Minister Narendra Modi responded to Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav's outrageous reference to "Gujarat's gadhe (donkeys)" and said at a rally, "I take inspiration from the donkey because I work for people day and night... donkeys are loyal to their master."
The Chief Minister had mocked an advertisement in which Amitabh Bachchan, the brand ambassador of Gujarat Tourism, talks about a "Wild Ass Sanctuary" and said, "Please don't campaign for the donkeys of Gujarat."
Political sparring also featured 26/11 terrorist Ajmal Kasab, who was hanged in 2010 for the Mumbai attacks. BJP president Amit Shah said at a rally, "UP cannot progress unless Kasab is wiped out - Ka for Congress, Sa for Samajwadi Party and Ba for Mayawati's BSP."
BSP chief Mayawati had hit back, saying, "There cannot be a bigger Kasab than Amit Shah." Akhilesh Yadav said "KA" actually stood for "kabutar" or pigeon and added that people will "set the BJP's pigeons free this election".
Over 1.8 crore people, including 96 lakh women, are to vote in this round. Candidates include ministers Vinod Kumar Singh or Pandit Singh, Tej Narain Pandey from Ayodhya and BSP state president Ram Achal Rajbhar from Akbarpur.
Elections to the 403 seats in Uttar Pradesh are being held over seven rounds. The results will be announced on March 11.
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