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UP municipal election 2023: Stage set for second phase of polling
In the first phase, the voting was held on May 4. The results for both phases are due on Saturday.
On Thursday, voting will take place for the second and final phase of the Uttar Pradesh urban local body elections. In the second phase, the polling will be held in 38 districts across 8 divisions: Aligarh, Ayodhya, Azamgarh, Bareilly, Basti, Chitrakoot, Kanpur and Mirzapur. In the first leg, on the other hand, the polling was conducted on May 4, and voters from 37 districts – UP has total 75 districts—across 9 divisions (Agra, Devipatan, Gorakhpur, Jhansi, Moradabad, Lucknow, Prayagraj, Saharanpur and Varanasi) got to exercise their right to vote.
Also Read | Stage set for UP civic body phase two election: All you need to know
The polling in the second phase will be held from 7 am to 5 pm, as was the case for the first. The counting of votes for both phases, meanwhile, is due on Saturday.
What is at stake?
According to the State Election Commission (SEC), Uttar Pradesh, the elections are being held for 14,684 posts, including 17 mayoral positions. With the addition of Shahjahanpur, this is an increase of one mayoral position from the 2017 local body polls; Shahjahanpur will get its first mayor. Also at stake are 7,178 seats in nagar panchayats, 5,327 seats in nagar palikas, 1,420 corporator posts, and 199 nagar palika parishad chairman posts.
What happened in the first phase?
On May 4, an average 52% turnout was recorded, as per the SEC data. This is 5.52% less than the turnout for the first phase in 2017.
Who all can vote?
According to SEC, more than 4 crore people (4,32,31,827) are eligible to participate as voters in these polls. This is a 22% rise from 2017, when 3,35,95,547 people were eligible. Uttar Pradesh has a population of more than 20 crore, and is thus the most populous country sub-division in the world.
