Lok Sabha elections 2014: Polling for 14 Lok Sabha seats begins in Uttar Pradesh; Sonia Gandhi, Rajnath Singh in fray

LUCKNOW: Polling for 14 Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh began this morning in the fourth phase of elections in the state to decide the fate of 233 candidates including BJP chief Rajnath Singh and Congress President Sonia Gandhi.

"The polling started at 7 am and will continue till 6 pm. It is going on peacefully", UP CEO Umesh Singh said.

This phase covers Lucknow, Rae Bareli, Dhaurahra, Sitapur, Mishrikh, Unnao, Mohanlalganj, Lucknow, Kanpur, Jalaun, Jhansi, Hamirpur, Banda, Fatehpur and Barabanki seats, which lie in Bundelkhand region and parts of central UP.

The fate of 233 candidates including 39 females will be decided by 2.46 crore voters that include 1.34 crore men and 1.12 crore women. In 2009 Lok Sabha polls, polling percentage was 47.99, while in 2012 assembly polls the percentage was 61.56.

A total of 25,485 pollng centres have been made in which 3554 are identified as critical. The focus would be on Rae Bareli and Lucknow seats from where Sonia and Rajnath respectively are in the fray.

Sonia, who is contesting from her traditional Rae Bareli, has no major contestant against her with SP deciding not to field its candidate against her.

The prestigious Lucknow seat, which is in the limelight with the entry of the BJP's national president, is set to witness a tricky contest.

Rajnath, who is facing a four-cornered fight, has two tasks at hand - first to maintain legacy of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and second to ensure a victory margin matching with his political stature.