Etawah (Uttar Pradesh) [India], October 23 : Samajwadi Party Chief Akhilesh Yadav on Friday cast his vote in the Graduate MLC Elections at the block development officer’s office in Uttar Pradesh's Etawah district. 
Later, Yadav appealed to the public to cast their votes in the election to protect democracy and the constitution of the country.
 
"I appeal to all the voters for the last time... your one vote will save democracy; it will save the constitution," Yadav told reporters. 
The Samajwadi Party chief alleged that the BJP has appointed corrupt officers in charge of elections in several districts of Uttar Pradesh, asserting that the party will allegedly display similar conduct in the other elections in future. 

"We are getting reports from many districts, including Agra, Fatehpur, and the Chief Minister's own home district, Gorakhpur and Jaunpur, that if any voter goes to vote for the Samajwadi Party, BJP goons or corrupt officers have been put in charge... This is the kind of behavior they might show in the other elections too. But the public is against them, and they will get rid of them one vote at a time," added Yadav. 
Additionally, Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Ram Gopal Yadav also cast his vote in the election. 
Speaking to reporters, Yadav said, “The response here in Etawah is in favour of the Samajwadi Party. It is the same in Firozabad, in Agra too, and it is the highest in Aligarh. So both our candidates will win—Akash Agarwal for the Teachers' constituency, and for the Graduates' constituency seat as well.”
Meanwhile, Polling is underway for biennial Legislative Council elections in Bihar, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh following the completion of the terms of sitting members in the respective constituencies.
According to the Election Commission of India (ECI), the terms of eight members in Bihar, four in Karnataka, five in Maharashtra and 11 in Uttar Pradesh are ending, resulting in vacancies. 
In Uttar Pradesh, polling is being held in five Graduates' constituencies, Lucknow, Varanasi, Agra, Meerut and Allahabad-Jhansi, and six Teachers' constituencies, Lucknow, Varanasi, Agra, Meerut, Bareilly-Moradabad and Gorakhpur-Faizabad. The tenures of the sitting members of these 11 constituencies will expire on December 6. 
Polling began at 8 am and will continue until 4 pm on Friday. The counting of votes is scheduled for October 27, while the entire election process is to be completed by October 31.