Lucknow, 09 February: Voting will be held on Thursday in 58 seats in 11 districts of the first phase in the elections for the 18th Legislative Assembly in Uttar Pradesh. A total of 623 candidates, including 73 women candidates, are in the fray in the first phase.
In the first phase, maximum 15-15 candidates are in the fray from Mathura and Muzaffarnagar seats. At the same time, the least five candidates are in Iglas seat of Aligarh. 2.28 crore voters of Western UP will decide the fate of all these candidates.
State Chief Election Officer Ajay Kumar Shukla said on Wednesday that the first phase of polling will be held on Thursday from 07 am to 06 pm under tight security. Of the total 58 seats in the first phase, nine are reserved for the scheduled castes.
He said that the police have also completed their preparations for fair and peaceful polling. Around 800 company paramilitary forces have been deployed at sensitive places besides polling booths. Polling parties have been dispatched from respective district headquarters to the polling stations for voting today.
He said that 48 General Observers, eight Police Observers and 19 Expenditure Observers have also been deployed by the Election Commission to keep a watchful eye on the polling. Apart from this, 2175 Sector Magistrates, 284 Zonal Magistrates, 368 Static Magistrates and 2718 Micro Observers have also been deployed.
Shukla said that the total number of voters in the first phase of elections is 2.28 crore, of which 1.24 crore are male, 1.04 crore female and 1,448 third gender voters. In this phase, 10,853 polling stations and 26,027 polling places have been made for voting. Of these, there are 467 Adarsh ​​polling stations. A total of 1, 20,876 polling personnel have been deployed to conduct the election process.
12 other options besides voter ID card for voting
The Chief Electoral Officer said that as per the instructions of the Election Commission, in addition to the Voter’s Identity card, 12 other identity cards, such as Aadhar card, MNREGA job card, photo passbook issued by banks and post offices, health insurance issued under the scheme of Ministry of Labor Smart Card, Driving Licence, PAN Card, Smart Card issued by RGI under NPR, Indian Passport, Pension Document with photo, Service Identity Card with photo issued by Central or State Government, Public Sector Undertaking, Public Limited Companies to their employees and Government Identity Cards, Unique Disability ID (UDID) cards issued to MPs, MLAs and Legislative Council Members, Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, Government of India) will be valid for identification of voters at polling places.
Covid-19 protocols will be followed
Shukla stated that in view of Covid-19, adequate arrangements have been made for thermal scanners, hand sanitizers, gloves, face masks, face shields, PPE kits, soap, water etc. at the polling places at the time of polling. Voter guides have also been distributed for the convenience of voters. Dos and don’ts related to Covid-19 have also been mentioned in this. In view of Covid-19, instructions have been given by the Election Commission to keep the maximum number of voters up to 1250 at the polling places. Instructions have been given to the district election officers to make available ramps, toilets and drinking water facilities at all polling places.
“During the voting period, all the BLOs have been instructed that they will be present at the helpdesk along with the voter list and help the coming voters,” he added.
These are the 11 districts in the first phase
In the first phase of polls, there are 58 seats in 11 districts of Western UP. These include three in Shamli district, six in Muzaffarnagar, seven in Meerut, three in Baghpat, five in Ghaziabad, three in Hapur, three in Gautam Budh Nagar, seven in Bulandshahr, seven in Aligarh, five in Mathura and nine in Agra district. Voting will be held for the first phase of elections.
First phase seats
Kairana, Thana Bhavan, Shamli, Budhana, Charthaval, Purkaji (Reserved), Muzaffarnagar, Khatauli, Meerapur, Siwalkhas, Sardhana, Hastinapur (Reserved), Kithor, Meerut Cantonment, Meerut, Meerut South, Chhaprauli, Baraut, Baghpat, Loni, Muradnagar, Sahibabad, Ghaziabad, Modinagar, Dhaulana, Hapur (Reserved), Garhmukteshwar, Noida, Dadri, Jewar, Secunderabad, Sayana, Anupshahr, Dibai, Shikarpur, Khurja (Reserved), Khair (Reserved), Barauli, Atrauli, Charra, Kol, Aligarh , Iglas (Reserved), Chhatra, Mant, Govardhan, Mathura, Baldev (Reserved), Etmadpur, Agra Cantonment (Reserved), Agra South, Agra North, Agra Rural (Reserved), Fatehpur Sikri, Khairagarh, Fatehabad and Bah.
