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Murli Manohar Joshi will contest from Allahabad again

A total of 29,67,396 voters, including 13,33,664 women, are expected to exercise their right of franchise in Allahabad district this election.

This is an increase of 1,23,840 votes over the 1998 figure, 28,44,690.

The district has three constituencies -- Allahabad, Phulpur and Chail. Allahabad has five assembly segments: Meja, Karchhana, Bara, Allahabad North and Allahabad South. Phulpur too has five segments: Jhushi, Handia, Pratappur, Soraon and Nawabganj.

District Magistrate and Election Officer Alok Tandon said the official machinery is ready to ensure a free, fair and peaceful poll. From the security point of view, it has been divided into 11 zones and 177 sectors, each to be supervised by a zonal officer and a sector magistrate.

He said there would be 1,395 polling stations and 3,517 polling booths. Of this, 304 booths have been identified as sensitive.

Giving the voter break-up, Tandon said Phulpur has 11,95,260 voters, Allahabad 14,25,583 and Chail (part) 3,47,687. Electronic voting machines are to be used, for the first time, in all the polling stations and in 1,649 polling booths. Two thousand three hundred machines have already been received.

Nominations for all the three constituencies will start on August 21. The last date for filing nominations is August 28.

The prestigious Allahabad constituency will see a four-cornered contest. Minister for Human Resource Development Dr Murli Manohar Joshi will be contesting for the third consecutive time. He will fight Samajwadi Party's national general secretary and former Uttar Pradesh minister Kunwar Reoti Raman Singh and the Congress candidate Dr Rita Bahuguna Joshi, who recently quit the SP.

The Bahujan Samaj Party has fielded Ram Dular Patel.

Two other constituencies -- Phulpur and Chail (R) -- are also expected to face four-cornered contests. The Congress has already announced Rampujan Patel as its candidate there.

UNI

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