Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya on Sunday offered prayers at his residence as the voting for the fifth phase of Assembly polls in the state got underway and said that the people of the constituency will make the “son of Sirathu win” with a big margin of votes.

Maurya is contesting from the Sirathu Assembly constituency in the Kaushambi district as a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJ) nominee. Polling is underway in 61 constituencies, including the Sirathu Assembly seat, spread across 12 districts of the state.

Speaking to reporters here, Maurya said, “I believe that the people of Sirathu will help bloom Lotus and make the son of Sirathu win with a big margin of votes. The BJP government has been working for the welfare of the 24 crore people of UP. That is why people have made up their mind to make the Lotus bloom.”

The Deputy Chief Minister also hit out at the Samajwadi Party and said that the “cycle which is flying high in the sky of arrogance, will fall in the Bay of Bengal”.

“On March 10, with the blessings of the people, the cycle of Akhilesh Yadav (the SP chief), which is flying high in the sky of arrogance, will fall in the Bay of Bengal. His bicycle had flown to Saifai first and now it will go to the Bay of Bengal,” he said.

Polling is underway in Ayodhya, Sultanpur, Chitrakoot, Pratapgarh, Kaushambi, Prayagraj, Barabaki, Bahraich, Shrawasti, Gonda, Amethi and Raebareli.

Besides Maurya, voters will decide the fate of the state minister Sidharth Nath Singh, Congress Legislature Party leader Aradhana Mishra and others today.

As many as 692 candidates are in the fray in the fifth phase whose political fate will be decided by around 2.24 crore electorates. The polling will conclude at 6 pm today.