Polling begins for second phase of UP Panchayat elections amid Covid-19

Voting for the second phase of the Uttar Pradesh Panchayat elections began on Monday with COVID-19 protocols in place.

Over three crore voters will decide the fate of the candidates in 20 districts of the state including, the state capital Lucknow.

The polls are being held for the posts of members of zila panchayats, and kshetra panchayats.

Voting has started from 7 am and will end at 6 pm where 3,23,69,256 voters will exercise their franchise.

The second phase assumes significance as state capital Lucknow and Varanasi will go to polls in this round.

People were seen queued up wearing masks on faces to cast vote for the Panchayat polls at Koirajpur Primary School in Varanasi.

Apart from Lucknow and Varanasi, polling will be held in Amroha, Azamgarh, Etawah, Etah, Kannauj, Gonda, Gautam Buddh Nagar, Chitrakoot, Pratapgarh, Budaun, Baghpat, Bijnor, Muzaffarnagar, Mainpuri, Maharajganj, Lakhimpur Kheri, Lalitpur and Sultanpur districts.

The first phase of the polls was held on April 15. While the third and fourth phase will witness polling on April 19, April 26 and April 29 respectively. The counting of votes will be done on May 2.