The Karhal seat in Mainpuri district of Uttar Pradesh became the center of attraction in the third phase of assembly polls as it witnessed high-pitched contest between Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav and BJP’s Union Minister SP Singh Baghel.
The ‘Yadav bastion’ on Sunday saw a record turnout as large number of voters turned out at the polling booths to vote for their leaders. The constituency witnessed 62.32 percentage turnout till 5pm, which was the second-highest for the seat since 1951, Times of India reported.
According to the Election Commission, the Karhal seat has a total of 3.71 lakh voters, which includes 1.25 lakh Yadavs and 18,000 Muslims.
In 1951, the constituency was divided into Karhal West cum Shikohabad East and Karhal East cum Bhongaon South. It was a reserved constituency between 1957 and 1969, due to a majority of Dalit community.
In 1974, the seat saw a record 71.41 percent turnout when Nathu Singh from Bhartiya Kranti Dal had won the election by a margin of 6,926 votes.
The Karhal assembly seat has been a bastion of the Yadav family where the SP has lost just once since 1992.
SP lost the constituency just one in 2002 against the BJP. Sobran Singh Yadav, who is currently the MLA from the seat and joined SP, had won the seat against SP candidate Anil Kumar Yadav.
Meanwhile, SP Singh Baghel, who is contesting from BJP, has been the former PSO of SP patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav. Baghel is currently a BJP MP from Agra and is a big name in the political arena of Uttar Pradesh.
Meanwhile, the 59 assembly constituencies recorded over 60 percent voting till 5 pm on Sunday in the third phase of the elections in Uttar Pradesh. The updated approximate voting percentage, according to the Election Commission’s Turnout App till 5 pm, was 60.63 per cent.
The percentage was 63.14 per cent in Hathras, 61.89 per cent in Firozabad, 63.04 per cent in Kasganj, 65.7 per cent in Etah, 61.51 per cent in Mainpuri, 59.13 per cent in Farrukhabad, 61.93 per cent in Kannauj and 58.35 per cent in Etawah .
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