The seventh and final phase of Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, a state with a population of 200 million people in northern India, is currently happening.

This round will bring to a close one of the state's most bitterly contested elections.

Purvanchal has 54 Assembly constituencies spread over nine districts where voting is taking place.

Azamgarh, Mau, Jaunpur, Ghazipur, Chandauli, Varanasi, Mirzapur, Bhadohi, and Sonbhadra are among the districts where voting is taking place.

On March 10th, all of the phases will be counted.

In this round, a total of 613 candidates are vying for 54 seats, 11 of which are reserved for Scheduled Castes and two for Scheduled Tribes, among a total electorate of about 20.06 million.

The last round would also put the BJP and Samajwadi Party's alliances with tiny caste-based parties to the test.&nbsp; 
 
In the last phase, significant contenders include BJP allies Apna Dal (Sonelal) and Nishad Party, as well as Akhilesh Yadav's new friends Apna Dal (K), Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party (SBSP) of Om Prakash Rajbhar and others.

Previously a stronghold of the Samajwadi Party, the region witnessed the BJP gain ground in 2017 by capturing 29 seats alongside its partners Apna Dal (4) and the SBSP (3).

The BSP received six seats, while the Samajwadi Party received eleven.

UP ministers Neelkanth Tiwari, Anil Rajbhar, Ravindra Jaiswal, Girish Yadav, and Rama Shankar Singh Patel are among the prominent contestants in this phase.

Dara Singh Chauhan, who left Yogi Adityanath's government and joined the Samajwadi Party, is also running for the seat of Ghosi in Mau.&nbsp; 
 
SBSP president Om Prakash Rajbhar (Zahoorabad), Dhananjay Singh (Malhani-Jaunpur) as JD(U) candidate and Abbas Ansari, son of mafia turned politician Mukhtar Ansari, from Mau Sadar seat are other prominent candidates in the final phase. 
 
The BJP is going all out to retain its bastion while the Samajwadi Party is eyeing to regain the constituencies it won in the 2012 Assembly elections. 
 
Also, the seventh and last phase of UP assembly elections will be a litmus test for allies on both the sides-- from Anupriya Patel in BJP-led alliance to Om Prakash Rajbhar in the SP-led alliance. 
 
In this election, BJP has fielded 48 candidates out of 54 seats on the party symbol while its ally Apna Dal (S) and Nishad Party have fielded 3-3 candidates each. 
 
On the other hand, Samajwadi Party has fielded 45 candidates on its symbol while its ally SBSP has fielded 7 candidates and Apna Dal (K) has fielded two candidates. 
 
Prime Minister Narendra Modi along with UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath, BJP president J.P. Nadda, union ministers, Rajnath Singh and Amit Shah, have been extensively campaigning in Purvanchal for the final phase to repeat its 2017 success story. 
 
(With inputs from agencies)

The seventh and final phase of Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, a state with a population of 200 million people in northern India, is currently happening. This round will bring to a close one of the state's most bitterly contested elections.

The seventh and final phase of Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, a state with a population of 200 million people in northern India, is currently happening. This round will bring to a close one of the state's most bitterly contested elections. Purvanchal has 54 Assembly constituencies spread over nine districts where voting is taking place. Azamgarh, Mau, Jaunpur, Ghazipur, Chandauli, Varanasi, Mirzapur, Bhadohi, and Sonbhadra are among the districts where voting is taking place. On March 10th, all of the phases will be counted. In this round, a total of 613 candidates are vying for 54 seats, 11 of which are reserved for Scheduled Castes and two for Scheduled Tribes, among a total electorate of about 20.06 million. The last round would also put the BJP and Samajwadi Party's alliances with tiny caste-based parties to the test. In the last phase, significant contenders include BJP allies Apna Dal (Sonelal) and Nishad Party, as well as Akhilesh Yadav's new friends Apna Dal (K), Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party (SBSP) of Om Prakash Rajbhar and others. Previously a stronghold of the Samajwadi Party, the region witnessed the BJP gain ground in 2017 by capturing 29 seats alongside its partners Apna Dal (4) and the SBSP (3). The BSP received six seats, while the Samajwadi Party received eleven. UP ministers Neelkanth Tiwari, Anil Rajbhar, Ravindra Jaiswal, Girish Yadav, and Rama Shankar Singh Patel are among the prominent contestants in this phase. Dara Singh Chauhan, who left Yogi Adityanath's government and joined the Samajwadi Party, is also running for the seat of Ghosi in Mau. SBSP president Om Prakash Rajbhar (Zahoorabad), Dhananjay Singh (Malhani-Jaunpur) as JD(U) candidate and Abbas Ansari, son of mafia turned politician Mukhtar Ansari, from Mau Sadar seat are other prominent candidates in the final phase. The BJP is going all out to retain its bastion while the Samajwadi Party is eyeing to regain the constituencies it won in the 2012 Assembly elections. Also, the seventh and last phase of UP assembly elections will be a litmus test for allies on both the sides-- from Anupriya Patel in BJP-led alliance to Om Prakash Rajbhar in the SP-led alliance. In this election, BJP has fielded 48 candidates out of 54 seats on the party symbol while its ally Apna Dal (S) and Nishad Party have fielded 3-3 candidates each. On the other hand, Samajwadi Party has fielded 45 candidates on its symbol while its ally SBSP has fielded 7 candidates and Apna Dal (K) has fielded two candidates. Prime Minister Narendra Modi along with UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath, BJP president J.P. Nadda, union ministers, Rajnath Singh and Amit Shah, have been extensively campaigning in Purvanchal for the final phase to repeat its 2017 success story. (With inputs from agencies)

Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections: Voting underway in 54 seats across 9 districts

The voting for by-elections for two Rajya Sabha seats in Gujarat's Gandhinagar is underway.

The two seats fell vacant after Smriti Irani and Home Minister Amit Shah were elected to the Lok Sabha from Amethi and Gandhinagar respectively.

BJP has fielded External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and OBC leader Jugal&nbsp;Thakur and the Congress former MLA Chandrika Chudasama and party leader from Valsad, Gaurav Pandya, as party candidates for Rajya Sabha by-elections.

Earlier on Thursday, Congress had shifted its MLAs to a resort in Palanpur area in Banaskatha district of the state in a bid to avoid horse trading.

As many as 69 Congress MLAs from the state have been shifted to Balaram resort which is 150 kilometres away from Ahmedabad.

The voting for by-elections for two Rajya Sabha seats in Gujarat's Gandhinagar is underway. The two seats fell vacant after Smriti Irani and Home Minister Amit Shah were elected to the Lok Sabha from Amethi and Gandhinagar respectively.

The voting for by-elections for two Rajya Sabha seats in Gujarat's Gandhinagar is underway. The two seats fell vacant after Smriti Irani and Home Minister Amit Shah were elected to the Lok Sabha from Amethi and Gandhinagar respectively. BJP has fielded External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and OBC leader Jugal Thakur and the Congress former MLA Chandrika Chudasama and party leader from Valsad, Gaurav Pandya, as party candidates for Rajya Sabha by-elections. Earlier on Thursday, Congress had shifted its MLAs to a resort in Palanpur area in Banaskatha district of the state in a bid to avoid horse trading. As many as 69 Congress MLAs from the state have been shifted to Balaram resort which is 150 kilometres away from Ahmedabad.

Voting underway for two Rajya Sabha seats in Gujarat

Voting is underway for the crucial seat of Haryana's Jind Assembly constituency which went vacant after INLD candidate Hari Chand Middha passed away.&nbsp;

Prominent political leaders like senior Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala, the late Hari Chand Middha's son and ruling BJP candidate Krishan Middha and INLD`s Umed Singh Redhu are in the fray in today's by-poll.

As per reports, as many as 48,000 voters out of a total of 1,71,113 eligible to vote to belong to the Jat community while the remaining others belong to Brahmin, Punjabi, and other communities.

Nearly 80,000 women are eligible to vote. At least 158 polling stations have been set up, of which 67 are located in rural areas.

Voting is underway for the crucial seat of Haryana's Jind Assembly constituency which went vacant after INLD candidate Hari Chand Middha passed away. Prominent political leaders like senior Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala, the late Hari Chand Middha's son and ruling BJP candidate Krishan Middha and INLD`s Umed Singh Redhu are in the fray in today's by-poll.

Voting is underway for the crucial seat of Haryana's Jind Assembly constituency which went vacant after INLD candidate Hari Chand Middha passed away. Prominent political leaders like senior Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala, the late Hari Chand Middha's son and ruling BJP candidate Krishan Middha and INLD`s Umed Singh Redhu are in the fray in today's by-poll. As per reports, as many as 48,000 voters out of a total of 1,71,113 eligible to vote to belong to the Jat community while the remaining others belong to Brahmin, Punjabi, and other communities. Nearly 80,000 women are eligible to vote. At least 158 polling stations have been set up, of which 67 are located in rural areas.

Jind bypoll: Voting underway in a high-stakes battle

Russian presidential election 2018: Voting underway as Vladimir Putin set to win fourth term

Russians began voting Sunday in a presidential election widely expected to cement President Vladimir Putin&#39;s power for another six years.

Polls first opened in the Far East, and 109 million voters are eligible to cast ballots across the 11 time zones of the world&#39;s biggest country.

Since taking power 18 years ago, Putin has stamped his total authority on the country, silencing opposition and reasserting Moscow&#39;s lost might abroad.

Polling at around 70 per cent, the macho leader is sure to extend his term to 2024 despite a lacklustre campaign ahead of a summer when global attention will be glued to Russia as it hosts the football World Cup.

Putin has sought to use the election run-up to emphasise Russia&#39;s role as a major world power, recently boasting of its &quot;invincible&quot; new weapons and continuing Moscow&#39;s support for the Syrian regime in a bloody civil war.

Rising tensions with the West over the poisoning of former double agent Sergei Skripal in Britain and new sanctions from Washington over alleged election meddling strengthen the impression of a Russia at loggerheads with the rest of the world.

&quot;In America and Europe, they are trying to make us bend over and kneel, but we&#39;re still standing,&quot; Sergei Babayev, a 55-year-old transport manager, said in central Moscow shortly ahead of the vote.

&quot;They promised us a crisis and we stuck it out. That&#39;s Putin&#39;s main quality -- he is at the core of our state.&quot;

Today also marks exactly four years since Putin signed a treaty declaring Crimea part of Russia following its annexation from Ukraine, an action that led to the war in the east of the former Soviet state.

Putin, who has run under the slogan &quot;a strong president -- a strong Russia&quot;, has declined to take part in televised debates and shot no new material for his own campaign advertisements.

He is standing against seven other candidates, including millionaire communist Pavel Grudinin and former reality TV host Ksenia Sobchak, but none are polling more than eight percent.

One of the more memorable moments from the campaign came during a debate when Sobchak threw a glass of water over the ranting ultra-nationalist candidate Vladimir Zhirinovsky, prompting him to call her a &quot;prostitute&quot; and a &quot;mad fool&quot;.

Putin&#39;s most vocal opponent, the anti-corruption campaigner Alexei Navalny, has been barred from standing for legal reasons and has called on followers to boycott an election he says is a sham. 
Authorities, however, are seeking a high turnout to add greater legitimacy to a new term for Putin, who is already Russia&#39;s second-longest serving leader since Joseph Stalin.

&quot;These are not quite the elections we see in Western countries,&quot; Stepan Goncharov of the independent Levada Center pollster said.

&quot;People are put in a situation where they have no-one to choose from,&quot; he said.

&quot;If they want to express their disapproval, then they don&#39;t turn out. They think of it as a vote of confidence (in Putin).&quot;

There has been a particular focus on the youth vote, with prizes offered for the best selfies taken at polling stations and a sexually charged online campaign that brands the election as &quot;for adults only&quot;.

Meanwhile, students in several cities have been warned they may face problems in examinations or even expulsion if they do not turn out to vote, according to liberal newspaper Novaya Gazeta.

Heads of schools and state enterprises have put pressure on their employees to vote, as in previous elections, in some cases telling workers they should bring in a list of names of friends or relatives who were also going to the polls.

Early voting has already taken place in some remote areas, where local election commissions bring ballot boxes by helicopter and snowmobile.

Overall turnout is expected to be between 63 and 67 per cent, according to official pollsters.

The run-up to Russia&#39;s last presidential election in 2012 was marked by protests across the country against Putin&#39;s return as head of state after four years as prime minister.

But those demonstrations were quashed and once he was back in the Kremlin a crackdown followed, with activists arrested, the Pussy Riot rock band jailed and draconian new laws criminalising popular protest passed.

(With inputs from AFP)

Since taking power 18 years ago, Putin has stamped his total authority on the country, silencing opposition and reasserting Moscow's lost might abroad.

Russian presidential election 2018: Voting underway as Vladimir Putin set to win fourth term Russians began voting Sunday in a presidential election widely expected to cement President Vladimir Putin's power for another six years. Polls first opened in the Far East, and 109 million voters are eligible to cast ballots across the 11 time zones of the world's biggest country. Since taking power 18 years ago, Putin has stamped his total authority on the country, silencing opposition and reasserting Moscow's lost might abroad. Polling at around 70 per cent, the macho leader is sure to extend his term to 2024 despite a lacklustre campaign ahead of a summer when global attention will be glued to Russia as it hosts the football World Cup. Putin has sought to use the election run-up to emphasise Russia's role as a major world power, recently boasting of its "invincible" new weapons and continuing Moscow's support for the Syrian regime in a bloody civil war. Rising tensions with the West over the poisoning of former double agent Sergei Skripal in Britain and new sanctions from Washington over alleged election meddling strengthen the impression of a Russia at loggerheads with the rest of the world. "In America and Europe, they are trying to make us bend over and kneel, but we're still standing," Sergei Babayev, a 55-year-old transport manager, said in central Moscow shortly ahead of the vote. "They promised us a crisis and we stuck it out. That's Putin's main quality -- he is at the core of our state." Today also marks exactly four years since Putin signed a treaty declaring Crimea part of Russia following its annexation from Ukraine, an action that led to the war in the east of the former Soviet state. Putin, who has run under the slogan "a strong president -- a strong Russia", has declined to take part in televised debates and shot no new material for his own campaign advertisements. He is standing against seven other candidates, including millionaire communist Pavel Grudinin and former reality TV host Ksenia Sobchak, but none are polling more than eight percent. One of the more memorable moments from the campaign came during a debate when Sobchak threw a glass of water over the ranting ultra-nationalist candidate Vladimir Zhirinovsky, prompting him to call her a "prostitute" and a "mad fool". Putin's most vocal opponent, the anti-corruption campaigner Alexei Navalny, has been barred from standing for legal reasons and has called on followers to boycott an election he says is a sham. Authorities, however, are seeking a high turnout to add greater legitimacy to a new term for Putin, who is already Russia's second-longest serving leader since Joseph Stalin. "These are not quite the elections we see in Western countries," Stepan Goncharov of the independent Levada Center pollster said. "People are put in a situation where they have no-one to choose from," he said. "If they want to express their disapproval, then they don't turn out. They think of it as a vote of confidence (in Putin)." There has been a particular focus on the youth vote, with prizes offered for the best selfies taken at polling stations and a sexually charged online campaign that brands the election as "for adults only". Meanwhile, students in several cities have been warned they may face problems in examinations or even expulsion if they do not turn out to vote, according to liberal newspaper Novaya Gazeta. Heads of schools and state enterprises have put pressure on their employees to vote, as in previous elections, in some cases telling workers they should bring in a list of names of friends or relatives who were also going to the polls. Early voting has already taken place in some remote areas, where local election commissions bring ballot boxes by helicopter and snowmobile. Overall turnout is expected to be between 63 and 67 per cent, according to official pollsters. The run-up to Russia's last presidential election in 2012 was marked by protests across the country against Putin's return as head of state after four years as prime minister. But those demonstrations were quashed and once he was back in the Kremlin a crackdown followed, with activists arrested, the Pussy Riot rock band jailed and draconian new laws criminalising popular protest passed. (With inputs from AFP)

Russian presidential election 2018: Voting underway as Vladimir Putin set to win fourth term

Re-polling is underway in six booths in as many Assembly constituencies of Tripura on Monday.&nbsp;

The Election Commission (EC) had ordered repolling in six booths of Sonamura, Dhanpur, Teliamura, Sabroom, Ampinagar and Kadamtala-Kurti constituencies due to criticism from the ruling Communist Party of India (Marxist) CPI(M), which accused the Tripura election department of failing to carry out a proper election.

The EC direction said it has come to the notice of the poll panel that presiding officers inadvertently did not clear the control unit of EVMs after mock poll on the day of polling in seven polling stations where matching of VVPAT slips with the EVM count was advised.

Out of 60 constituencies, 59 went for polls on February 18. Elections in Charilam constituency were rescheduled for March 12, after the demise of one candidate.

Meghalaya and Mizoram undergo polling on February 27, and results for the three northeastern states will be declared on March 3.

(With inputs from ANI)

Out of 60 constituencies, 59 went for polls on February 18. Elections in Charilam constituency were rescheduled for March 12, after the demise of one candidate.

Re-polling is underway in six booths in as many Assembly constituencies of Tripura on Monday. The Election Commission (EC) had ordered repolling in six booths of Sonamura, Dhanpur, Teliamura, Sabroom, Ampinagar and Kadamtala-Kurti constituencies due to criticism from the ruling Communist Party of India (Marxist) CPI(M), which accused the Tripura election department of failing to carry out a proper election. The EC direction said it has come to the notice of the poll panel that presiding officers inadvertently did not clear the control unit of EVMs after mock poll on the day of polling in seven polling stations where matching of VVPAT slips with the EVM count was advised. Out of 60 constituencies, 59 went for polls on February 18. Elections in Charilam constituency were rescheduled for March 12, after the demise of one candidate. Meghalaya and Mizoram undergo polling on February 27, and results for the three northeastern states will be declared on March 3. (With inputs from ANI)

Re-polling in six Tripura booths underway

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voting underway

Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections: Voting underway in 54 seats across 9 districts

Voting underway for two Rajya Sabha seats in Gujarat

Jind bypoll: Voting underway in a high-stakes battle

Russian presidential election 2018: Voting underway as Vladimir Putin set to win fourth term

Re-polling in six Tripura booths underway