Lucknow: The battle for Uttar Pradesh begins with 58 seats in 11 districts going for polls today in the first phase of seven-phase assembly elections 2022. The phase is crucial since it will cover the Jat-dominated belt of Western UP from where farmers had participated actively in the stir against the Centre's three agriculture laws in the national capital. The polling on the 58 seats, of which nine are reserved, will be held between 7 am and 6 pm today. The districts where the elections will be held in today's phase are Shamli, Hapur, Gautam Buddh Nagar, Muzaffarnagar, Meerut, Baghpat, Ghaziabad, Bulandshahr, Aligarh, Mathura, and Agra.
Around 2.27 crore people are eligible to vote in today's phase. A total of 10,853 polling stations have been set up in the first phase of elections. The voters have to carry valid identity proof, preferably their Electors Photo Identification Card (EPIC), to cast their vote. Some of the other valid identity cards one can carry to cast his or her vote include Aadhaar, MNREGA job card, photo passbook issued by banks, post offices, Driving Licence, PAN Card, Smart Card issued by RGI under NPR, Indian Passport, and Pension document with photo. The entire election process will be completed under the supervision of paramilitary forces and the entire voting process will be videographed.
In the first phase, 623 candidates, including 73 females, are in the fray. Some prominent names include BJP state vice president Pankaj Singh, late BJP MLA Hukum Singh’s daughter Mriganka Singh, sitting MLA and minister Kapil Dev Aggarwal, power minister Shrikant Sharma and Samajwadi Party’s Nahid Hasan.Today's round of polls will be a decider, as it would set the momentum for the next six rounds. S
Full list of constituencies going to polls today
Constituencies to watch out for
Kairana: This constituency is at the forefront of the political tussle as BJP has managed to put the spotlight back on the "exodus" of Hindus from Kairana before 2017. While BJP has fielded Mriganka Singh, Nahid Hasan is the Samajwadi Party candidate from here. Nahid's sister Iqra Chaudhary has filed a nomination as an independent candidate.
Noida: Another key constituency from where a key name is competing. Pankaj Singh, the elder son of Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, is up against Pankhuri Pathak from Congress, Sunil Choudhary from Samajwadi Party, and Pankaj Awana from Aam Aadmi Party. Pankaj was elected to the UP Assembly from this constituency for the first time in the last elections in 2017, becoming one of the prominent faces of the BJP in the state. He had received 1.62 lakh out of the total of 2.54 lakh votes.
Muzaffarnagar: The current sitting MLA Kapil Dev Aggarwal from BJP is up against Sourabh from the alliance of SP-RLD and Subodh Sharma from Congress. The issues which are being raised are ranging from the Muzaffarnagar riots to the farmer’s protest.
Mathura: Shrikant Sharma is BJP’s candidate and the power minister. In opposition, Samajwadi Party has fielded Devendra Agarwal & Pradeep Mathur of Congress are contesting the assembly seat. This seat has mostly been held by either BJP or congress.
Alliances and support
During the 2017 Assembly Elections, Bharatiya Janata Party bagged 53 out of these 58 seats while Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party got two seats each and the remaining one went to Rashtriya Lok Dal. The ruling BJP has formed an alliance with Anupriya Patel’s Apna Dal (Sonelal) and NISHAD Party led by Sanjay Nishad. The Samajwadi Party has entered into an alliance with the Rashtriya Lok Dal, Shivpal Yadav’s Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party (Lohia), Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party-led by Om Prakash Rajbhar, Janvadi Party (Socialist) and Apna Dal (Kamerawadi) led by Krishna Patel and Mahan Dal.
ALSO READ: 'I can see a wave for BJP': PM Modi confident of BJP's victory in poll bound states
All India Trinamool Congress has announced support to the SP but decided not to field its candidates in the polls. Meanwhile, the Congress and Bahujan Samaj Party have announced to go in for the upcoming polls without any alliance. Asaduddin Owaisi’s All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen has formed an alliance with Babu Singh Kushwaha’s Jan Adhikar Party and Bharat Mukti Morcha.
Akhilesh Yadav with his new alliance partner Jayant Chaudhary, RLD President, have been campaigning hard in the rural segments. The BJP had all the stalwarts from Amit Shah, Hema Malini to Rajnath Singh, J P Nadda, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath with the two deputy Chief Ministers -- Keshav Prasad Maurya and Dinesh Sharma -- campaigning in the area.
Security bandobast
Ahead of today's polls, nearly 50,000 paramilitary personnel from 412 companies of central paramilitary forces have been deployed at different locations to maintain law and order as the election campaign for the first phase of assembly polls in western UP ended on the evening of February 8. The police also sealed the borders of the state and strict vigilance is underway to maintain peace in 58 assembly constituencies.
"The highest deployment will be seen in Muzaffarnagar, Aligarh, and Meerut. In Mathura alone, 75 coys of paramilitary have been deployed and the total force deployed is 21,000 in this constituency," the security officials said about the deployment of troops in sensitive areas. .
"There will be movement of force throughout and voting will be held amidst tight security. Duty cards have been allotted. The liquor shops have been closed for 48 hours and will open only once the voting is over," the officials added. Moreover, if hoardings, banners or posters of candidates will be seen within a radius of two hundred meters of the polling booths it will be taken down immediately. At the election booths, candidates who will put more than three by four and a half feet banner will be considered as a violation of the Model code of conduct, the official said.
List of ECI observers
The Chief Election Commission has asked its observers to be visible, accessible, neutral, and ethical while functioning as the eyes and ears of the Election Commission. The designated observers are expected to ensure that a level-playing field is maintained for all political parties and candidates. Officers drawn from IAS, IPS, IRS, and other accounts services across the country are deployed as general, police, and expenditure observers.
Here is the list of observers for today's phase of Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections:
Covid SOPs
An adequate quantity of thermal scanners, hand sanitizers, gloves, face masks, face shields, PPE kits, soap, water has been arranged at polling places, for the convenience of voters. Besides, for the convenience of voters, a voters guide that also lists dos and don'ts related to Covid-19 has also been made available.
