UP Polls: Technical Glitches Mar Peaceful Voting for 58 Seats in Phase One, Over 60% Turnout

Lucknow: Over 60% voter turnout was recorded in the first phase of polling held on Thursday across 58 Assembly constituencies in 11 districts of Uttar Pradesh.

Polling closed at 6 pm following a one-hour extension because of COVID-19 protocols. The day passed off peacefully with minor technical snags in EVMs at some places, election officials said.

Additional Chief Election Officer (ACEO) B D Ram Tiwari said, "There were reports of a technical error in EVMs at some places." Those EVMs were being replaced as the reports came in, he added.

On the Samajwadi Party's allegation that poor voters were not allowed to exercise their franchise in Dundukheda village in the Kairana assembly constituency, Tiwari said the district magistrate concerned was asked to look into the matter.

Agra recorded 60.33% polling, Aligarh 60.49% , Baghpat 61.35%, Bulandshahr 60.52%, Gautam Buddh Nagar 56.73%, Ghaziabad 54.77%, Hapur 60.50%, Mathura 63.28%, Meerut 60.91%, Muzaffarnagar 65.34% and Shamli 69.42%, an EC report said.

During the 2017 assembly elections, 63.47% polling was recorded in these constituencies, the report said.

A report from Ghaziabad said a minor skirmish took place between supporters of BJP leader V K Singh and Congress leader Rajan Kant, allegedly when the former addressed media persons and talked about the work done by the BJP within the premises of a polling station, and security personnel had to intervene. 

In Bulandshahr, a groom reached the Char Khamba polling station in the Sadar assembly segment to cast his vote before joining his marriage procession. The groom, Balram, after performing the 'Ghudchadhi' ceremony, reached the polling station on a motorcycle to cast his vote. 

Voters in Mathura braved a dense fog in the morning when the polling began but visibility improved as the day progressed. 

As many as 623 candidates, including 73 women, are in the fray for the first phase, and around 2.28 crore voters, including 1.24 crore men and 1.04 women besides others, are eligible to cast their franchise, state EC officials said. 

State ministers whose fate will be decided in the first phase include Shrikant Sharma, Suresh Rana, Sandeep Singh, Kapil Dev Agarwal, Atul Garg and Chowdhury Lakshmi Narain. 

Campaigning in the constituencies going to the polls in the first round of the seven-phase election in the politically crucial state ended on Tuesday evening. 

Leading the campaign for the BJP, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had pitched for a double-engine government for fast-paced development while attacking the Samajwadi Party-Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) combine. 

While Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath tried to put the spotlight back on the alleged "exodus" of Hindus from Kairana before 2017, SP president Akhilesh Yadav claimed that people have made up their mind to vote out the BJP. 

The SP-RLD alliance has centred its electioneering on farmers' issues and has attacked Yogi Adityanath over poll promises. 

BSP chief Mayawati, who started the poll campaigning late, reminded the people of her government's track record on law and order in the past. 

The Congress, under the leadership of its general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, has generated interest among the people as seen in door-to-door campaigns. 

The first phase of polling covered the Jat-dominated belt of western Uttar Pradesh from where farmers had participated actively in the stir against the Centre's now-repealed agri laws in the national capital.

In 2017, the BJP had bagged 53 of the 58 seats in the region, while the Samajwadi Party and the BSP had got two seats each. One seat had gone to the Rashtriya Lok Dal.