And this will bring the polling process in five states to an end with counting of votes on March 11. UP is the jewel which the BJP would love to have in its crown, but the concatenation of events does not seem to favour this outcome. The last phase brought out Prime Minister Narendra Modi who spent three days in his parliamentary constituency of Varanasi. Akhilesh Yadav ended the final day of campaigning with seven rallies and a letter from Governor Ram Naik on the presence of tainted minister Gayatri Prajapati, who has been absconding since an FIR was lodged in cases of gang rape and attempted rape. The BSP is struggling to hold on to its vote share and the Congress, which teamed up with the SP, is keen to find out if alliances are catalysts for revival of its political fortunes. Much is at stake in UP for all the big players and March 11 will reveal where each one stands on the political map of the country.
Last phase
The lengthy polling process in Uttar Pradesh will come to an end tomorrow when the country’s largest state goes through the last phase of the Assembly elections. Today polling will take place in the last 40 of the 403 seats.
