Polling for the first phase of assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh ended at 6 pm on Thursday, with the state recording a voting turnout of 60.51 per cent. Even as the overall voting process remained peaceful, there were reports of a technical error in EVMs at a few places. As many as 623 candidates were in the fray and around 2.27 crore people were eligible to vote in this phase in which a total of 58 constituencies spread across 11 districts in the western belt of the state went to polls.
Prime Minister MODI , while addressing an election rally in UP’s Saharanpur, said the Yogi Adityanath government has consistently worked towards preventing crimes against Muslim women, while the Opposition has stood in the way of their progress for the sake of votes.
A bulk of the UP seats, which went to polls today, are Jat dominated who had participated actively in the stir against the Centre’s three contentious agriculture laws in the national capital last year. The fiercely contested first round, where the ruling BJP is expected to face a stiff challenge from the resurgent alliance of (SP) and (RLD), will test the impact of the farmers stir.
Rashtriya Lok Dal chief Jayant Chaudhary faced backlash after saying he may skip voting because of election rallies. He later said he would vote in the evening at his constituency in Mathura, but failed to return in time from Bijnor, where he was campaigning with ally Akhilesh Yadav.
Their combine is seen as the big challenger to the Yogi Adityanath government. Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav has augmented his Muslim-Yadav support base with small parties have a following among the Other Backward Classes.
