LIVE UPDATES: First phase of Uttar Pradesh polls underway in Jat-dominated western UP; BJP won 53 out of 58 seats here in 2017

By
Kumar Suresh
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The first phase of Uttar Pradesh assembly polls is underway with the fate of politicians in 58 assembly constituencies spread across 11 districts in Western Uttar Pradesh to be decided. These districts are Shamli, Hapur, Gautam Buddh Nagar (Noida), Muzaffarnagar, Meerut, Baghpat, Ghaziabad, Bulandshahr, Aligarh, Mathura and Agra.

Uttar Pradesh assembly polls

Campaigning in these constituencies came to an end on Tuesday evening. The coting started at 7 AM and will continue until 6 PM.

Prominent candidates whose fates will be decided by voters today include Shrikant Sharma, Suresh Rana, Sandeep Singh, Kapil Dev Agarwal, Atul Garg and Chowdhury Lakshmi Narain.

The first phase of the polls assumes significance given the dominance of Jat voters here. In 2017, the BJP swept this region by winning 53 out of the total 58 seats, while the Akhilesh Yadav’s Samajwadi Party and the BSP had won two seats each. Jats have traditionally voted for the BJP but they appear to be angry with the Hindutva party over the controversial Farm Laws.

RLD leader Jayant Chaudhary, himself a Jat, is fighting this year’s polls in alliance with the SP. Home Minister Amit Shah has made several desperate attempts to woo Chaudhary asking him to join hands with the BJP. But Chaudhary has routinely snubbed Shah.

LIVE UPDATES will appear below:

  • Uttar Pradesh records 57.79% voter turnout till 5 pm in the first phase of Assembly elections. (ANI)
  • I’m a voter of Mathura. Right now,we’re in Bijnor as there’s just 2 days time for campaigning b/w the 1st & 2nd rounds of #UttarPradeshElections. My wife voted in the morning itself. After campaigning ends here,I’ll try to vote at booths open till 6 pm: RLD chief Jayant Chaudhary.(ANI)

  • 35.03% voter turnout recorded till 1pm in the first phase of #UttarPradeshElections2022. (ANI)
  • A sister and a mother have launched a spirited fight for justice against their slain kin and on their target is Aman Mani Tripathi, the #BSP (@bspindia) candidate from Nautanwa in #Maharajganj. (IANS)

  • EVM & VVPAT malfunction complaints are being addressed immediately. Law and order is maintained at all polling stations, voting underway peacefully. A complaint of a person being stopped from voting in Agra has been found baseless: Chief Electoral officer, Uttar Pradesh. (ANI)

  • Senior citizen voters arrive at a polling booth in Ghaziabad, to exercise their franchise, in the first phase of polling of Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections. (ANI)

  • “Pehle matdaan, uske baad bahu, uske baad sab kaam,” says Ankur Balyan, a bridegroom who had come to cast his vote at a polling booth in Muzaffarnagar ahead of his wedding today. (ANI)

  • UP | Everything is in people’s hands but we’re confident that they’ll support us. It was challenging as BJP & state machinery’s focus was on Kairana. Our rival here isn’t the local candidate but entire BJP & its machinery: Iqra Hasan, sister of SP’s Kairana candidate, Nahid Hasan. (ANI)

  • In a seemingly bizarre poll promise, the Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party (@SBSP4INDIA) chief #OmPrakashRajbhar (@oprajbhar), has promised to waive off fines for those riding bikes with three people. (IANS)

  • Police & administrative officers doing rounds since morning. 129 Company Force of CAPF deployed on all booths. No booth in the dist where CAPF isn’t deployed. Civil Police & Home Guard jawans also deployed as per EC’s guideline: Vikash Kumar, SP City Agra. (ANI)

  • Zikra, a first time voter, casts her vote in the first phase of #UttarPradeshElections, along with her family at a polling booth in Kairana. She says, “It is important to exercise your voting right. I feel good after casting my vote.” (ANI)

  • Polling process has started at all booths. Some complaints regarding EVMs received from some random booths, we are replacing those machines and resolving their matter. Peaceful polling underway, no law & order situation anywhere: Jasjit Kaur, Shamli DM. (ANI)

  • These elections are no ordinary elections but are associated with development and safety of women in the state. In the last 5 years, we have laid the foundation for a prosperous Uttar Pradesh: Shrikant Sharma, BJP candidate from Mathura Assembly constituency. (ANI)

  • We are fighting on the agenda of development as we work with the mantra of ‘Sabka saath, sabka vikas’. The people of the state don’t want to see the politics of appeasement: Sangeet Som, BJP candidate from Sardhana Assembly constituency. (ANI)

  • Voters brave cold to arrive early to exercise their franchise at polling booth number 50-51 in Goverdhan Assembly constituency of Mathura during the first phase of #UttarPradeshElections2022. (ANI)

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