UP civic polls: Voter turnout of 54 pc till 1700 hrs on wednesday

Lucknow: An estimated 54 per cent of 1 point 09 crore voters on Wednesday exercised their franchise in phase one of Uttar Pradesh civic polls, sealing the fate of 26,314 candidates for 4,325 seats in 230 urban local bodies in a test for chief minister Adityanath Yogi.Amid stringent security, polling started on a brisk note at 0730 hrs and ended at 5 pm with hordes still waiting in the queue for their turn to cast their vote.

Several people alleged that their names were missing from the voters’ list in several districts and there were reports of scattered violence involving supporters of rival political parties and malfunctioning of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs).State Election Commission officials affirmed that the polling was by and large peaceful.

However, there was some confusion in Kanpur and Meerut where were allegations that the EVMs had malfunctioned and all the votes had gone to one particular party. But poll officials denied any such occurrence though they changed some EVMs in Kanpur along with the presiding officer of the booth.State Election Commission officials said till 1500 hrs, there was a voter turnout of 46 per cent.The elections to local bodies in 24 districts in the first phase were viewed as a test for Mr Adityanath, with all eyes on Ayodhya where the opposition Samajwadi Party has fielded a transgender for the mayoral contest.

The districts, which went to the polls today, were Shamli, Meerut, Hapur, Bijnore, Badaun, Hathras, Kasganj, Agra, Kanpur, Jalaun, Hamirpur, Chitrakoot, Kaushambi, Pratapgarh, Unnao, Hardoi, Amethi, Faizabad, Gonda, Basti, Gorakhpur, Azamgarh, Ghazipur and naxal-affected Sonbhadra.The second and third phase of voting would be held on November 26 and 29. Counting has been scheduled for December 1 and the results are expected to be declared the same evening. (UNI)