UP votes over 60% in Phase 1

The average voting, however, was less than the 63.47 percent polling recorded in the same constituencies in the previous elections. Polling closed at 6 pm since a one-hour extension had been given due to Covid protocols. According to officials, 2.28 crore voters, including 1.24 crore men and 1.04 crore women, participated in the polls. Additional Chief Election Officer BD Ram Tiwari said, “There were reports of a technical error in EVMs at some places.” Those EVMs were replaced as the reports came in, he a

NewsBharati 11-Feb-2022 12:12:13 PM

Total Views | 116

Agra, Feb 11: Over 60 percent voter turnout was recorded in the first phase of polling for 58 Assembly constituencies spread across 11 districts of Uttar Pradesh on Thursday, according to officials. Kairana constituency in Shamli district recorded the highest turnout of 75 percent among the seats where polling was held, they said.

The average voting, however, was less than the 63.47 percent polling recorded in the same constituencies in the previous elections. Polling closed at 6 pm since a one-hour extension had been given due to Covid protocols. According to officials, 2.28 crore voters, including 1.24 crore men and 1.04 crore women, participated in the polls.

Additional Chief Election Officer BD Ram Tiwari said, “There were reports of a technical error in EVMs at some places.” Those EVMs were replaced as the reports came in, he added.

Uttar Pradesh records 60.17% voter turnout in the first phase of Assembly elections pic.twitter.com/eerloI5q5b
— ANI UP/Uttarakhand (@ANINewsUP) February 10, 2022

Shamli district, which comprises the constituencies of Shamli, Kairana, and Thana Bhawan, recorded a 69.42 percent turnout – the highest among all the 10 districts that went to the polls. While Kairana polled a record 75.12 percent, Shamli seat recorded 67.50 percent turnout and Thana Bhawan registered 65.63 percent turnout.

Samajwadi Party’s Nahid Hasan, who was arrested shortly after his nomination last month, is facing BJP leader Hukum Singh’s daughter Mriganka Singh in Kairana. Home Minister Amit Shah had kicked off the BJP’s campaign from Kairana itself where he met families who had allegedly migrated during the 2013 riots.

In Thana Bhawan, Sugarcane Minister Suresh Rana is looking to retain his constituency against the alliance candidate Ashraf Ali who lost in 2012 by a margin of only 265 votes. In the Shamli constituency, sitting BJP MLA Tejendra Narwhal is up against RLD’s Prasanna Chaudhary.

Among the other districts, Ghaziabad polled the lowest with 54.77 percent – a decrease of nearly 3 percent from the 2017 Assembly elections. Turnout in Gautam Buddh Nagar was slightly better at 56.73 percent, which is nearly the same as the previous polls.

Agra recorded 60.33 percent polling, Aligarh 60.49 percent, Baghpat 61.35 percent, Bulandshahr 60.52 percent, Hapur 60.50 percent, Mathura 63.28 percent, Meerut 60.91 percent, and Muzaffarnagar 65.34 percent, according to latest reports.

In 2017, the BJP had bagged 53 of the 58 seats, while the Samajwadi Party (SP) and the BSP won two seats each. Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) had won the remaining seat.