5th Phase of UP election: Voting started in 708 Ups

Voting has started in 708 UPs of the country in the fifth phase of Union Parishad (UP) elections. Voting is taking place in 95 Upazilas of 48 districts of the country on Wednesday (January 5). Of these, EVM voting is taking place in 40 UPs. Voting will continue from 8 am to 4 pm. A total of 193 candidates have already been elected unopposed in this phase.

Asaduzzaman, joint secretary of the Election Commission (EC), said that in the fifth phase, the total electorate of 708 UP is 1 crore 42 lakh 20 thousand 195 people. 36 thousand 457 candidates are contesting for different posts. Of these, 3,274 are contesting for the post of chairman, 7,950 for the reserved seat, and 25,233 for the post of a general member.

He said all preparations for the polls have been completed. Voter content has been sent to the center. 193 candidates have been elected unopposed in the fifth phase. Among them, there are 52 candidates for the post of chairman, 32 candidates for the post of reserved women member, and 109 candidates for the post of a general member.

The four-stage of voting has already ended in the ongoing UP elections. On June 21 and September 20, 369 union council elections were held in the first phase on two stages, and on November 11, 833 union council elections were held in the second phase. The third and fourth phase of the election occurred on 28^th November and 26^th December.

In addition, the sixth phase will be held on January 31, 219 UPs, the seventh phase will be held on February 7, 138 UPs and the eighth phase will be held on February 10, in UPs.