Ghaziabad assembly by-poll today, officials expect good turnout despite poor air quality

Ghaziabad assembly seat, along with 8 other seats in UP of Meerapura, Kundarki, Ghaziabad, Khair, Karhal, Shishamau, Phulpur, Katehari and Majhawan, will go to polls on Wednesday

On a day when Ghaziabad city recorded its second worst air quality in the country, poll officials were busy making last minute arrangements for Wednesday’s polling for the Ghaziabad assembly by-election.

The Ghaziabad assembly seat fell vacant after sitting MLA Atul Garg of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) got elected to the Lok Sabha from the Ghaziabad constituency this June. (Sakib Ali/HT Photo)

Polling parties were dispatched from the Kamla Nehru Nagar ground to their respective 507 polling booths across the assembly segment on Tuesday, district election officials said.

The Ghaziabad assembly seat, along with eight other assembly seats in Uttar Pradesh of Meerapura, Kundarki, Ghaziabad, Khair, Karhal, Shishamau, Phulpur, Katehari and Majhawan, will go to polls on Wednesday.

The Ghaziabad assembly seat fell vacant after sitting MLA Atul Garg of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) got elected to the Lok Sabha from the Ghaziabad constituency this June.

“Our preparations are over for polling day on Wednesday. Polling will start at 7am and end at 5pm. After 5pm, all voters inside the polling centre/booth will be allowed to vote. In all, we have 507 polling booths and personnel were dispatched with EVMs and other equipment to these booths,” said Santosh Kumar, city magistrate and returning officer.

The Ghaziabad seat has 14 contesting candidates, including Sanjeev Sharma from the BJP, Singhraj Jatav from the Samajwadi Party and PN Garg from the Bahujan Samaj Party, among others. The officials said the seat has 461,644 voters.

According to the Election Commission of India (ECI), the polling percentage for the Ghaziabad assembly segment was 53.27% in 2017 with 424,077 electors while the turnout dipped to 51.78% in 2022 assembly election when the segment had a total of 473,009 voters.

“We expect a good turnout on Wednesday and all preparations, including training of around 2200-2300 personnel deployed for polling, have been completed,” said Abhinav Gopal, chief development officer.

Earlier, the polling for the nine assembly seats in Uttar Pradesh were slotted for November 13. However, the ECI postponed the polling day to November 20 in wake of Hindu and Sikh festivals.

The votes will be counted on November 23. “The counting will take place on November 23 at the Govindpuram rice market and all preparations have been completed for storage and counting process,” the returning officer said.