In the first phase of the urban local body elections in Uttar Pradesh, more than 45 percent polling was recorded till 5 pm on Thursday. The polling started at 7 in the morning and ended at 6 in the evening.
According to the State Election Commission (SEC), 38.89 polling percentage was recorded in Varanasi, 35.42 in Lucknow and 30.32 in Prayagraj. A polling percentage of 52.59 was recorded in the first phase of the 2017 urban local body elections. In 2017, polling was held in three phases and the total polling percentage was 53.
Voters of 37 districts cast their votes
The state election commission said voters in 37 districts exercised their franchise on Thursday to elect 7,593 representatives, including 10 mayors and 820 corporators. The districts where the mayor was elected in the first phase are Saharanpur, Agra, Moradabad, Firozabad, Mathura, Jhansi, Prayagraj, Lucknow, Gorakhpur and Varanasi. Officials said that there were more than 2.40 crore voters in the first phase. In the first phase, voting was held for 103 posts of Nagar Palika Parishad president, 2,740 posts of Nagar Palika Parishad member, 275 posts of Nagar Panchayat president and 3,645 posts of Nagar Panchayat member. With this, a total of 44,232 candidates were in the fray.
Defense Minister Rajnath Singh casts vote in Lucknow
State Election Commission officials said that 85 representatives, including 10 corporators, were elected unopposed. Before the next year’s Lok Sabha elections, these elections will prove to be like a test for the parties. Defense Minister Rajnath Singh, MP from Lucknow, cast his vote at a booth in Gomti Nagar here. At the same time, Deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak, former Deputy Chief Minister Dinesh Sharma and BSP chief Mayawati also cast their votes in Lucknow. Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya voted in Prayagraj.
CM Yogi was the first voter at his booth
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath voted in Gorakhpur. He was the first voter at his booth in Gorakhnath Kanya Primary School located near Jhulelal. CM Yogi had reached the booth at 7.01 am itself. Speaking to reporters in Gorakhpur, Adityanath said, “The weather is pleasant in May. I think it is God’s blessing so that people can elect a good city government and cast their vote.” All necessary arrangements have been made for I appeal to everyone to vote. “Yaad rahe, pehle polling, phir jalpan”, he said, using a phrase coined by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections last year. Tell that till 6 pm, 36.74% polling has been done in Gorakhpur Municipal Corporation and 62.5% in Nagar Panchayats.
Second phase polling on May 11
After casting his vote, Adityanath began campaigning for the second phase of the election, voting for which will be held on May 11. He campaigned in Ayodhya, Sultanpur, Siddharthnagar and Basti. While talking to reporters after casting vote at a school in Mall Avenue, Lucknow, Mayawati said, “Our party is contesting the election alone. I hope that my party will get a good response and the results will be good.”
There were also reports of malfunctioning of EVMs in Lucknow.
Along with this, there were also reports of malfunctioning of electronic voting machines at some places in Lucknow. On this, District Magistrate Suryapal Gangwar said that all such EVMs have been changed. Additional District Magistrate Ramji Mishra said that Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) Virendra Kumar Mittal, who was the returning officer of Nagar Panchayat Jyoti Khudia in Mainpuri, died of a heart attack. In Rampur, senior Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan and his former MLA son Abdullah Azam Khan could not vote because their names were struck off the voter list. The family of Azam’s wife Tajin Fatma and his elder son Adeeb Azam Khan cast their votes.
peaceful polling in the state
Earlier, Special Director General of Law and Order Prashant Kumar said that the polling in the state was peaceful and there was no news of any untoward incident from anywhere. He said that wherever there are reports of defects in EVMs, they are replaced. However, supporters of a BJP and Congress candidate clashed near a house during polling in Nichlaul town in Maharajganj. Police said that both accused each other of distributing money to voters. The supporters left before the police reached the spot.
Additional police force deployed in Prayagraj
According to a report from Prayagraj, polling was conducted peacefully in the most sensitive areas of the city, Chakia, Kareli and Khuldabad. Please tell that here gangster politician Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf were shot dead last month. After Atiq and Ashraf were killed, additional police force was deployed in the city and CCTVs were installed at 67 places. The Indo-Nepal border was sealed at six o’clock on Tuesday evening. Security personnel are keeping a strict vigil but are allowing people who need to attend weddings or have some emergency work.
Counting of votes will be held on May 13
Paramilitary and police personnel are continuously patrolling the Indo-Nepal border. Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) border outpost in-charge Jayant Ghosh said that soldiers are doing pillar to pillar mobile duty for the security of the open border. The counting of votes for the two phases of the urban body elections will be held on May 13.
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