Voting begins for first phase of assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh

Voting has begun for the first phase of assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh. 58 Constituencies spread across 11 districts are going to polls in this phase.

The Polling began at 7 this morning. The voting will conclude at 6 in the evening.

A total of 623 candidates including 73 women are in the fray in the first phase. Around 2 crore 28 lakh voters are expected to cast their votes in this phase. These include, 1.24 crore male, 1.04 crore female and 1,448 third gender voters.

The state is going to polls in seven phases.

All the necessary facilities and security arrangements have been made to ensure free, fair, transparent and COVID-safe elections in the state today.

The districts where elections are being held today are Shamli (Prabuddh Nagar), Meerut, Hapur (Panchsheel Nagar), Muzaffarnagar, Baghpat, Ghaziabad, Bulandshahar, Aligarh, Agra, Gautam Buddha Nagar and Mathura.

During 2017 Assembly Elections, Bharatiya Janata Party bagged 53 out of the 58 seats going to polls today, while Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party got two seats each and the remaining one went to Rashtriya Lok Dal.

The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party has formed an alliance with Anupriya Patel's Apna Dal (Sonelal) and NISHAD Party-led by Sanjay Nishad. The Samajwadi Party has entered into an alliance with the Rashtriya Lok Dal, Shivpal Yadav's Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party (Lohia), Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party-led by Om Prakash Rajbhar, Janvadi Party (Socialist) and Apna Dal (Kamerawadi) led by Krishna Patel and Mahan Dal.

All India Trinamool Congress has announced support to the Samajwadi Party, but decided not to field its candidates in the polls.

Meanwhile, the Congress and Bahujan Samaj Party have announced to go in for the upcoming polls without any alliance. Asaduddin Owaisi's All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen has formed an alliance with Babu Singh Kushwaha's Jan Adhikar Party and Bharat Mukti Morcha. Bhim Army Chief Chandrashekhar Azad's Azad Samaj Party has also floated an alliance with over 30 regional parties.

The alliance is named Samajik Parivartan Morcha. The Janta Dal (United) is contesting the polls independently in the state.

The prominent BJP candidates participating in this phase include former Uttarakhand Governor Baby Rani Maurya, nine Ministers including Suresh Rana, Shrikant Sharma and Choudhari Lakshmi Narain, State General Secretary Pankaj Singh along with Sangeet Som, Satyaveer Tyagi and Mriganka Singh.

Samajwadi Party has fielded former Minister Shahid Manzoor along with Nahid Hasan, Sanjay Lathar and Sunil Chaudhari while the BSP has fielded Madan Chauhan and Kripa Ram Sharma during this phase. Avtar Singh Bhadana, Rajpal, Gajraaj Singh, Tej Pal Singh and Manisha Ahlawat are some prominent candidates from Rashtriya Lok Dal while Upendra Singh and Pankhuri Pathak from Congress and Pankaj Awana of Aam Aadmi Party are also in the fray.

The Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) is being used along with Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) at every Polling Station, with a view to enhance the transparency and credibility of the election process, as VVPAT allows the voter to verify his or her vote. The arrangements have already been made to ensure availability of an adequate number of EVMs and VVPATs for the smooth conduct of elections.

The Election Commission has made elaborate arrangements for free, fair, transparent and COVID-safe elections in the state today.

In view of the prevailing COVID-19 pandemic and rising cases of Omicron variant across the country, the Election Commission has laid focus on COVID-safe elections with maximum participation. It is going to ensure the safety of vote and voters as both are equally and critically important in the democracy.

The Election Commission has decided to allow a maximum 1,250 electors in a Polling Station instead of earlier stipulation of 1,500 electors. Accordingly, there is a major change in the number of Polling Stations in the poll-bound states of Goa, Manipur, Punjab, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh. Accordingly, the number of Polling Stations in the state has gone up to 1,74,351 and it is more than 18.49 per cent as compared to the number of Polling Stations in 2017.

Option of Postal Ballot facility has been extended to the electors who are COVID-19 positive or suspect as certified by competent authority and are in home or institutional quarantine along with those marked as Persons with Disabilities (PwD) and above the age of 80 years.

As per the Election Commission instructions, the concerned Chief Electoral Officers are ensuring that every Polling Station is equipped with Assured Minimum Facilities (AMF) like drinking water, waiting shed, toilet with water facility, adequate arrangements for lighting, ramp of appropriate gradient for the Persons with Disabilities. The special facilities include mandatory sanitization of Polling Station, thermal checking of voters at entry point either by polling staff or paramedical staff or an Asha worker.

At the last hour of poll, such electors will be facilitated for voting, strictly following COVID-19 related preventive measures.

In view of the pandemic, the Commission has decided to extend the poll timing by one hour in all Assembly Constituencies. The COVID-19 patients, who are quarantined, will be allowed to cast their vote at the last hour of the poll day at their respective Polling Stations, under the supervision of health authorities, strictly following COVID-19 related preventive measures. Proper mechanism of collection and disposal of waste or used gloves will be put in place at each Polling Station.