First phase of polling in UP Assembly elections on Wednesday

As many as 55 constituencies will go to the polls tomorrow amidst tight security in the first round of polling in the seven-phase elections to choose a new 403-member legislative assembly in Uttar Pradesh.

 

Campaigning ended yesterday evening in these constituencies, spread over 10 districts -- Sitapur, Barabanki, Faizabad, Ambedkarnagar, Bahriach, Shrawasti, Balrampur, Gonda, Siddharthnagar and Basti.

 

Polling will begin at 0800 hours and end at 1700 hours tomorrow.

 

The second phase of polling for 59 seats will be on February 11, third phase ( 56 seats) on Feruary 15, fourth phase ( 56 seats) on February 19, fifth phase (49 seats) on February 23, sixth phase (68 seats) and last phase (60 seats) on March 3.

 

Counting of votes will be held on March 6 in UP as well as in Punjab, Manipur and Uttarakhand, where polling is already over and Goa, where polling is slated for March 3.

 

In all, 17180649 voters, including 9356290 men and 7824013 women, are eligible to exercise their franchise in tomorrow's polling. A total of 862 candidates are in the fray, including 65 women.

 

The ruling Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and the Bharatiya Janata Party are contesting all 55 seats going to the polls tomorrow. The Congress has fielded candidates in 54 constituencies, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) in 21 and the Samajwadi Party in 25. There are as many as 652 independents and others in the contest.

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The Election Commission will deploy 26740 electronic voting machines (EVMs) in 18108 polling stations in tomorrow's exercise.

 

Prominent candidates in the fray tomorrow include state Finance Minister Lalji Verma, former Assembly Speaker Mata Prasad Pandey (SP)and former Deputy Speaker Aamar Rizvi (Congress). 

 

NNN

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