LIVE: UP records 60.17% voter turnout in first phase of Assembly elections

UP election 2022 LIVE updates, phase 1: Districts that go into polls today are Muzaffarnagar, Meerut, Baghpat, Ghaziabad, Shamli, Hapur, Gautam Buddh Nagar, Bulandshahr, Aligarh, Agra and Mathura

9:32 PM

UP Assembly polls: Over 60% voter turnout recorded in the first phase

Over 60 per cent 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 per cent polling, Aligarh 60.49 per cent, Baghpat 61.35 per cent, Bulandshahr 60.52 per cent, Gautam Buddh Nagar 56.73 per cent, Ghaziabad 54.77 per cent, Hapur 60.50 per cent, Mathura 63.28 per cent, Meerut 60.91 per cent, Muzaffarnagar 65.34 per cent and Shamli 69.42 per cent, an EC report said.

 

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

 

As many as 623 candidates, including 73 women, are in the fray in the first phase, state EC officials said.

 

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

 

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.

 

9:15 PM

Uttar Pradesh records 59.87% total polling in phase I

Phase I of the polling for the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections on Thursday saw 59.87 per cent voting, according to the Election Commission of India.

 

"Phase I has seen 59.87 per cent polling till voting ended," said the ECI statement said.

 

The 11 districts that went to polls saw a mixed turnout with Agra witnessing 60.23 per cent voting, Aligarh 60.49 per cent, Bagpat 61.25 per cent, Bulandshahr 60.57 per cent, Gautam Budh Nagar 54.38 per cent, Ghaziabad 52.43 per cent, Hapur 60.53 per cent, Mathura 62.90 per cent, Meerut 60 per cent, Muzaffarnagar 65.32 per cent and Shamli 66.14 saw per cent, the EC statistics showed.

 

Of the total 403 seats in UP assembly, voting for 58 seats of the phase I of the seven phase elections is being held on Thursday. There are a total of 634 candidates in fray, 73 of them are women. As many as 2.28 crore voters (1.04 of them female) will exercise their franchise at 26,027 polling booths across 10,853 polling stations in 11 districts.

9:01 PM

People voting in large numbers as BJP govt extended security to women, traders: Adityanath

The turnout in the first phase of the Uttar Pradesh assembly polls shows people are voting in large numbers because of the security extended to women and traders by the BJP's double-engine government, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said on Thursday. There are no riots in Uttar Pradesh, and crime and anarchy has stopped, he said.

 

"There is silence in the houses of those who used to indulge in riots and committed crimes as their countdown will start from March 11," Adityanath said, adding that several generations of those who indulge in riots will be made to pay as their pictures will be put up at crossings. A heavy turnout has been seen in the first phase of polling across 58 assembly constituencies, he said.

 

"The double-engine government of the BJP has extended security to sisters and businessmen, and therefore, people are coming out to vote," the chief minister said at a public meeting in the Chandausi area here.

8:58 PM

Over 100,000 cops, home-guards, 800 CAPF companies deployed in 1st phase

Over one lakh personnel of the Uttar Pradesh police and home guards besides 800 companies of paramilitary were deployed for the first phase of assembly polls in western Uttar Pradesh on Thursday, according to officials.


As many as 623 candidates, including 73 women, are in the fray in the first phase with around 2.28 crore voters -- 1.24 crore men and 1.04 crore women, state Election Commission officials said.

8:38 PM

Uttar Pradesh records 60.17% voter turnout in the first phase

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6:17 PM

57.79% voter turnout recorded till 5 pm in UP

As per initial reports, Phase I of the polling for the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections on Thursday saw 57.79 per cent voting till 5 pm., according to the Election Commission of India.

 

"Phase I has seen 57.79 per cent polling till 5 p.m. as per initial reports," said the ECI statement along with a disclaimer that these are approximate figures as data from some polling stations take time to be incorporated.

 

Voting will go on till little more time, so final percentage would be known later.

 

Agra saw 56.52 per cent, Aligarh 57.25 per cent, Bagpat 61.25 per cent, Bulandshahr 60.57 per cent, Gautam Budd Nagar 53.48 per cent, Ghaziabad 52.43 per cent, Hapur 60.53 per cent, Mathura 58.12 per cent, Meerut 58.23 per cent, Muzaffarnagar 62.09 per cent and Shamli saw 61.75 per cent voting, the EC statistics showed.

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