Elaborate security in place for Uttar Pradesh first phase polling

Flag marches by central forces were been held in the sensitive areas to instil confidence among the voters.

The first phase of polls will be held in 58 seats covering 11 districts of the western region where campaigning came to an end on Tuesday evening at 6 PM.

The polling will be held between 7 AM hrs to 6 PM hrs when the fate of 623 candidates would be decided by the voters which include nine state ministers.

The ministers who would be contesting during this phase include Srikant Sharma (Mathura), Atul Garg(Ghaziabad), Suresh Rana (Thana Bhawan), Kapil Deo Agarwal(Muzaffarnagar),Sandeep Singh( Atrauli), Choudhury Laxminarain(Chhatta), Anil Sharma (Sikharpur), GS Dharmesh ( Agra Cantt) and Dinesh Khatik(Hastinapur).

Prominent seats where a nail-biting contest is expected during this phase are Kairana, Thana Bhawan, Sardhana, Chaprauli, Charthawal, Agra Rural, Loni, Modi Nagar, Mathura and Noida.

In most of the seats, there is a triangular contest between Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Samajwadi Party (SP)-Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) but in some seats, Congress is putting up a fight too.

Campaigning in these 58 seats had reached its crescendo and all political parties left no stone unturned to woo the voters. BJP and SP, who are being seen as the main contenders for grabbing power, released their poll manifesto on Tuesday.

With the Election Commission of India (ECI) restricting public rallies, roadshows and other common means of campaigning this time due to the pandemic, political leaders opted for virtual rallies, roadshows and door to door electioneering during this phase.

The first phase will cover the Jat dominated belt of western UP with other significant communities including Dalits, Muslims, Gujjars, Sainis etc.

The fate of 623 candidates out of whom 25 per cent are having a criminal background would be decided during this phase.

In the 2017 elections, BJP had won 53 seats out of the 58 assembly segments while SP and BSP won two each and RLD one.

But this time, BJP is facing a big challenge to repeat its 2017 feat as the SP-RLD combination could dent their vote bank. Farmer agitation against the three farm laws and other matters related to cane farmers besides law and order and development would be the main issues for all political parties during this phase.

Meanwhile, the ECI has said that all preparation for smooth conduct of polling on Feb 10 is in place and central forces have been deployed in the sensitive areas and booths for maintaining law and order.

State Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Ajay Kumar Shukla said here on Wednesday that polling parties have started leaving for their respective booths from this morning onwards. He said Covid regulations would be enforced in all the booths.

Over 2 lakh strong security forces would be engaged in the elections including over 200 companies of central forces. Special security observers have been deployed to monitor the polling process.

ADG (Law and Order) Prashant Kumar said security has been tightened in the poll-bound assembly segment in phase one. 2,27,83,739 voters including 1,04,51,053 females will cast their votes in 25,849 polling booths.

The districts where the first phase of polling will be held are Shamli, Meerut, Muzaffarnagar, Baghpat, Meerut, Hapur, Ghaziabad, Bulandshahr, Mathura, Agra and Aligarh.