NEW DELHI, Feb. 27 (Xinhua) -- Over 57 percent voter turnout was registered Monday in the fifth phase of local elections in Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, officials said.
The fifth phase of staggered seven-phase polling was held in 51 constituencies spread over 12 districts of the northern state.
"In Uttar Pradesh, 57.36 percent voters turnout was registered in the fifth phase of Assembly elections," an election official giving voting break up from constituencies told media in evening.
A senior official from Election Commission of India, Vijay Dev told reporters in New Delhi that polling passed off peacefully.
"The poll percentage is expected to go upto 60 per cent," Dev said.
Polling in the designated constituencies across 12 districts, Amethi, Sultanpur, Faizabad, Barabanki, Ambedkarnagar, Baharaich, Shravasti, Balrampur, Gonda, Basti, Siddharthnagar and Sant Kabir Nagar, started at 7:00 a.m. (local time) and was going on until 5:00 in the evening.
Authorities had made adequate security arrangements by deploying heavy contingents of paramilitary and police for peaceful and event free voting.
Election commission officials said 607 candidates including 40 women were in the fray for fifth phase.
The previous four phases also recorded around 60 per cent voter turnout in the state.
Uttar Pradesh with a population of 200 million is the most populous state in India.
The local elections in Uttar Pradesh is seen as a referendum to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's decision of demonetisation, a step to ban high value currency notes.
Modi's Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) won 71 seats from Uttar Pradesh during 2014 India's general election. Modi, who is basically from the western state of Gujarat, also managed to get elected from Uttar Pradesh's Varanasi constituency.
Modi's radical move in November last year led to a cash shortage and was opposed by all opposition parties besides common people, who faced lot of hardships in banks.
Ahead of elections, regional Samajwadi Party, which was ruling the state forged an alliance with Congress Party to regain power for the second consecutive term.
Political analysts say BJP is facing competition from the alliance besides another regional player, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), which has following among the low-caste Dalits and some Muslims.
Counting of votes according to India's Election Commission would be carried out on March 11.
