New Delhi: The first phase of Manipur elections saw a high turnout of 84%, according to the Election Commission. This data is tentative and was collected from 72% of polling stations as of 4pm and the rest of the figures are yet to be assessed. This is a significant increase from the 2012 state polls where the assembly constituencies which went to polls on Saturday, had registered a turnout of 72%.

The sixth phase of Uttar Pradesh saw a turnout of 57.03% which is a slight increase from 55.04% in the 2012 state polls and 54.72% in 2014 general elections in these constituencies. Around 1.72 crore voters, including 94.60 lakh men and 77.84 lakh women, are eligible to cast their votes in this round to decide the fate of 635 candidates, including 63 women.

In a development related to UP polls, Congress party has filed a complaint against a roadshow by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday claiming it took place without requisite permissions. Congress’ complain said that the roadshow covered assembly constituencies going to polls in the last phase and requisite permission was not sought for even visits to Kashi Vishwanath temple and Kaal Bhairav temple during the roadshow.

Vijay Dev, deputy election commissioner told reporters on Saturday that the complaint has been received and the EC is going to look into it.

Polling in Uttar Pradesh is crucial for the incumbent Samajwadi Party government, challengers Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) because there are pockets of dominance for all three major political parties. The sixth phase is crucial for Samajwadi Party because its stronghold, Azamgarh, a key constituency won by Mulayam Singh Yadav in 2014 Lok Sabha, is witnessing polling.

The second last phase of Uttar Pradesh witnessed the dominance of BJP as Gorakhpur, the area of influence of Member of Parliament (MP) Yogi Adityanath is going to polls and another crucial player in this phase of polling is criminal turned politician Mukhtar Ansari whose area of dominance in Ghazipur district is also going to polls.

The importance of the eastern Uttar Pradesh in which there are a total of 89 seats which will go to polls in the sixth and seventh phase can be understood from the fact that Prime Minister Narendra Modi represents the Lok Sabha constituency of Varanasi which is scheduled to go to polls on 8 March, in the last phase of polling.

Meanwhile, Manipur saw a record turnout in phase one. The areas witnessing the polls were Imphal East, Imphal West, Bishnupur and the hill districts of Churachandpur and Kangpokpi. According to the Press Trust of India (PTI), political parties in their campaigns mainly focused on the continuing economic blockade imposed by the United Naga Council and the state government’s inability to break it.

The other important issues which hogged the attention of the political parties are alleged lack of development, massive corruption, misappropriation of funds and worsening law and order in the state.

PTI contributed to this story.

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