UP bypolls 2018: Counting of votes today, results expected by afternoon
An Election Commission (EC) official said all arrangements had been made for the counting of ballots and the results were expected to be declared by today afternoon.
The voter turnout was 47.45 per cent in Gorakhpur and 37.39 per cent in Phulpur in Sunday’s polling. Ten nominees were in the fray from Gorakhpur, while 22 candidates contested from Phulpur.
According to the EC, there are 19.61 lakh voters in the Phulpur Parliamentary constituency, while the Gorakhpur Lok Sabha seat has 19.49 lakh voters.
The bypolls were necessitated after Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya vacated the Gorakhpur and Phulpur Lok Sabha seats respectively, following their election to the state legislative council.
After casting his vote in Gorakhpur, Adityanath had claimed that the BJP was getting a widespread support from the people, while Maurya had said his party would win both the seats.
Adityanath had also called the BSP-SP partnership for the bypolls an “unholy alliance”.
“The voters will reject this opportunistic, unethical and unholy alliance,” he had said.
On the other hand, Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav had said it (polling day) was a day to “change and re-write history”.
Termed by Adityanath a “rehearsal” for the 2019 Lok Sabha …read more
