E-Paper
Stage set for first phase of urban local bodies’ polls in 37 Uttar Pradesh districts
In the first phase, elections are being held for 7,678 posts, including 10 mayors, 820 corporators, 103 nagar palika parishad chairpersons, 2740 nagar palika parishad members, 275 nagar panchayat chairpersons and 3645 nagar panchayat members.
Over 2.40 crore (24 million) voters are eligible to exercise their franchise in the first phase of the urban local bodies’ (ULB) polls in 37 districts of Uttar Pradesh on Thursday amid tight security arrangements.
The voting will be held from 7am to 6pm, according to a State Election Commission (SEC) spokesman. The commission has set up 23,626 polling booths under 7,368 polling centres in these 37 districts. The second phase of the ULB polls in the remaining 38 districts is scheduled for May 11. Votes for both phases will be counted on May 13.
In the first phase, elections are being held for 7,678 posts, including 10 mayors, 820 corporators, 103 nagar palika parishad chairpersons, 2740 nagar palika parishad members, 275 nagar panchayat chairpersons and 3645 nagar panchayat members.
“The commission has taken all the measures to ensure free and fair polls and directions have been issued for the same to all 37 district election officers/district magistrates,” the spokesman said.
“The voting in all the 10 nagar nigams will be held through EVMs (electronic voting machines). In the rest of the ULBs, voting will be held through ballot paper,” he said.
The posts are being contested on party symbols. Altogether 44,232 candidates are in the fray in the opening round.
Officials said about 85 representatives, including 10 corporators, have already been elected unopposed.
The districts that will go to polls on Thursday are Shamli, Muzaffarnagar, Saharanpur, Bijnor, Amroha, Moradabad, Rampur, Sambhal, Agra, Firozabad, Mathura, Mainpuri, Jhansi, Jalun, Lalitpur, Kaushambi, Prayagraj, Fatehpur, Pratapgarh, Unnao, Hardoi, Lucknow, Rae Bareli, Sitapur, Lakhimpur Kheri, Gonda, Bahraich, Balrampur, Shrawasti, Gorakhpur, Deoria, Maharajganj, Kushinagar, Ghazipur, Varanasi, Chandauli and Jaunpur.
Among these districts, mayoral election will be held in the first phase in Saharanpur, Agra, Moradabad, Firozabad, Mathura, Jhansi, Prayagraj, Lucknow, Gorakhpur and Varanasi.
Elaborating on security arrangements for the polls, special DG (Law and Order) Prashant Kumar said 19,880 inspectors/sub-inspectors; 1,01,477 head constables/constables; 47,985 home guards; 86 companies of PAC; 35 companies of CAPF; and 7,500 under-training sub-inspectors will be posted for the first phase.
