The Centre is gearing up to unveil a special package for Vidarbha in Maharashtra, on the lines of Bundelkhand, to improve the conditions of cotton farmers in the region, which has seen unabated suicides. This is seen as an attempt by the UPA to position itself strongly ahead of the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.
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57.2% voting in U.P. Phase 4, Rae Bareli tops
Amita Verma
Lucknow, Feb. 19
Uttar Pradesh on Sunday recorded 57.2 per cent turnout in the fourth phase of the ongoing seven-part Assembly elections, with Rae Bareli recording the highest turnout of 59.8 per cent.
UP chief electoral officer Umesh Sinha said the turnout was significantly higher compared to 2007 for these segments, which had then registered 43.84 per cent voting. This despite the fact that it was a Sunday and a cricket match was being shown on television.
Lucknow, where 35.8 per cent had turned out to vote in 2007, registered 55.89 per cent polling on Sunday.