UP Elections 2022 | Voting for first phase in 58 seats across 11 districts begins; 623 candidates in fray

A woman holds a walking cane as her inked finger is seen after casting her vote at a polling station. (Representative image: Reuters)

The seven-phase Uttar Pradesh election began at 7am on February 10 with polling scheduled to take place at 26,027 polling booths in 58 Assembly seats across 11 districts in the western part of the state.

The campaigning, which was confined to the virtual medium due to a ban on road shows and physical rallies after the pandemic, had ended for the first phase on February 8 with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the main opposition Samajwadi Party (SP) releasing their manifestoes.

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The polling will be held till 6pm, as per Election Commission guidelines amid COVID-19 restrictions.

The districts where the elections will be held are Shamli, Hapur, Gautam Buddh Nagar (Noida), Muzaffarnagar, Meerut, Baghpat, Ghaziabad, Bulandshahr, Aligarh, Mathura and Agra.

The 58 Assembly seats going to polls largely cover the Jat belt of Western Uttar Pradesh.

As many as 623 candidates are in the fray in the first phase and around 2.28 crore people are eligible to vote in this phase. The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) party has fielded 17 candidates from the Jat community, while the RLD has fielded 12 Jat candidates, and the SP six.

READ: Uttar Pradesh assembly election 2022: 5 key candidates in first phase of voting

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his virtual rallies, pitched for a double-engine government for fast-paced development while attacking the Samajwadi Party-Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) alliance.

In an interview to news agency ANI, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that the BJP is experiencing a "pro-incumbency wave" in all the five poll-bound states. In Uttar Pradesh, the voters will endorse the party's "good governance model", the PM said.

Preparations underway ahead of voting for the first phase of #UttarPradeshElection which will begin shortly.

Visuals from Bhaurav Devras Saraswati Vidyalaya, Noida Sector 12 & Cambridge School Noida Sector 27. pic.twitter.com/HgvuwJh20h

— ANI UP/Uttarakhand (@ANINewsUP) February 10, 2022

The SP-RLD alliance has centred its electioneering on farmers' issues and has attacked Yogi Adityanath over poll promises. Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati, who started campaigning late, reminded people of her government's track record on law and order in the past. The Congress, under the leadership of its general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, has generated interest as seen in door-to-door campaigns.

Also, read : In-Depth | Battle for Jatland: How the poll contest is stacked up in west UP 

In the last Assembly elections, the BJP had won 53 of the 58 seats, while the Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) got two seats each. One seat went to the Rashtriya Lok Dal.

(With PTI inputs)