Politically crucial state of Uttar Pradesh is entering fifth phase of Assembly Elections. The voting will be held tomorrow as 1.84 crore voters will cast their vote to decide the fate of 617 candidates in 51 constituencies.

43 women contestants are in fray in 51 constituencies spread across 10 districts of Bahraich, Basti, Balrampur, Gonda, Shrawasti, Siddharthnagar, Sultanpur, Sant Kabeernagar,  Faizabad and Amethi. Heavy security deployment is is place for the voting which will start at 7 a.m.  Of the total electorate who will vote on February 27, 99.50 lakh are men and 85 lakh women, apart from 946 third-gender voters.

Voting for Ambedkarnagar’s Alapur seat is rescheduled to be held on March 8, as voting here, earlier scheduled for February 27, was countermanded due to the death of the Samajwadi Party candidate. With the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) topping this list, 19 per cent of the candidates in the fifth phase have a criminal record, a report by Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) said.

In previous 2012 polls, ruling Samajwadi Party had bagged 37 of the 51 seats now at stake, the BSP three, Bharatiya Janata Party five, the Congress five and the Peace Party two. As many as 43 millionaire candidates in the fray are from the BSP, 38 from the BJP, 32 from the SP and seven from the Congress, which is contesting 14 seats in this phase. A total of 14 Independents too are millionaires, according to the affidavits filed by them. As many as 285 candidates are graduates, 38 literate and nine illiterate. UP, over the past few months, has witnessed high-decibel election rallies and roadshows with all parties leaving no stone unturned to lure voters across the state. While the ongoing polls are touted to be a litmus test for SP, PM Narendra Modi-led BJP has made the road tough for the Akhilesh Yadav-led camp.