UP elections
Image by- The Economic Times
The first phase of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections has begun. On Thursday, voters will decide on 58 members in 11 districts. Voting has begun from 7 a.m. and will continue until 6 p.m. For security purposes, 800 companies of the Central Security Force have been deployed.
Voters will be eligible to vote with 12 prescribed identity cards, including the Aadhar card, MNREGA job card, PAN card, and driving licence, if they do not have a voter ID card. Ajay Kumar Shukla, the Chief Electoral Officer, said on Wednesday that extensive preparations had been done to ensure fair, secure, and peaceful elections.
This time in West UP, SP and RLD have established an alliance. SP has candidates running for 28 seats, while RLD has candidates running for 29 seats. Anupshahr NCP has been allocated a seat. KK Sharma is a candidate in the election. All 58 seats are being contested by the BJP, Congress, and BSP. The first phase of voting is thought to determine the rest of the trends, so the election in western Uttar Pradesh is crucial.
In the first phase, there are a total of 2.27 crore voters. Males make up 1.27 crore, while females make up 1 crore. The BJP won 53 seats out of these 58 seats in the 2017 elections. At the same time, SP-BSP had each won two seats, while RLD had only won one.
Aadhar card, MNREGA job card, photo passbook issued by banks / post offices, health insurance smart card issued under the scheme of the Ministry of Labor, driving licence, PAN card, Smart Card issued by RGI under NPR, Indian Passport, Pension Document with photographs, Service Identity Card with photograph issued by Central/State Government/PSU/Public Limited Companies to the Central Election Commission Unique Disability ID (UDID) cards issued by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, Government of India) will be valid for voter identification at polling stations.
EVM malfunctions have also been reported from Shamli and Meerut. Only after casting three votes in Shamli's Goharpur village did the EVM machine become faulty. The polls have closed and there is a long line at the polling station. The administration in Meerut has been alerted about the failure of EVMs at Cantt polling station booth number 20. The technical team is working to resolve the issue as quickly as possible.
There are 623 candidates in the race, with 73 of them being women.
A total of 2.28 crore people will vote.
Voting timing has been extended by one hour.
A total of 10,853 polling stations have been set up.
There are a total of 26,027 polling stations, each with a maximum of 1250 voters.
