The counting of the votes will take place on November 10. (Representation)
Lucknow:
An average of more than 53 percent of voters cast their vote on Tuesday in Uttar Pradesh’s assembly by-elections for seven seats with 88 candidates running.
The poll, which started at a slow pace at 7 a.m. amid heightened security and adherence to anti-COVID precautions, gained momentum as the day went on and 53.62% of registered voters turned out. vote.
Voting ended at 6 p.m. amid an alleged false vote at three polling stations in the Naugaon Sadat Assembly constituency in Amroha district and a six-hour boycott at an office to vote for Tundla headquarters in Firozabad district.
In total, 50.59% of the votes were cast in Bangarmau, 52.10% in Bulandshahr, 51.05% in Deoria, 49.42% in Ghatampur, 56.65% in Malhani, 61.50% in Naugaon Sadat and 54% in Tundla, Co-Chief Electoral Officer Ramesh Chand Rai said after the polls concluded.
The counting of the votes will take place on November 10.
Six of those seven seats were held by the Bharatiya Janata party, while the Malhani seat in Jaunpur district was held by the Samajwadi party.
Voting began in the morning with Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath urging voters to participate in large numbers in the “mega festival of democracy”.
“Everyone should exercise caution and fulfill their duty of the casting vote,” Adityanath tweeted earlier today.
“Democracy will win, the coronavirus will lose,” he said.
The PS also called on voters to vote in large numbers. “Those in power and responsible for farmers’ worries, women’s insecurity, poor health facilities, worker unemployment and the collapse of law and order should be answered in bypolls of today’s assembly, ”he tweeted.
Earlier today in the middle of the ongoing poll, Chief Electoral Officer Ajay Kumar Shukla said: “All preparations to ensure a free, fair and peaceful vote, bearing in mind the coronavirus pandemic, have been facts. “
“Voters will need to follow the anti-COVID protocol and maintain a safe distance between themselves while voting,” he added.
The ballot began with the deployment of “adequate” security personnel in the booths, including 371 “critical”.
Amid the ongoing poll, BJP candidate Sangeeta Chauhan for the seat of Naugaon Sadat in Amroha district alleged a “false vote” at three polling stations – Booth # 240, 24 and 242 – in her constituency and demanded that those wearing the burqa show their faces to allow poll officials to verify their identity.
“A false vote is underway, but the administration is unable to understand this,” she told reporters.
“We say this over and over, but no one is listening to us,” she added.
The Chief Electoral Officer told PTI he would investigate these allegations.
People at Rudhau Mustkil’s booth number 30 of Tundla constituency in Firozabad district boycotted the by-election for more than six hours, alleging there was no development in their area and insisting that they wouldn’t vote unless they got development insurance.
By chanting “vikas nahi, to vote nahi” (no development, no vote), voters at Rudhau Mustkil’s stand, voters boycotted the ballot.
In a video clip that surfaced on social media, the region’s sub-divisional magistrate, Ekta Singh, was reportedly seen talking to people and urging them to vote.
Yogi Adityanath’s government has faced criticism from the opposition over the law and order situation in the state, especially after the rape and murder cases of Hathras and Balrampur.
Naugaon Sadat’s seat fell vacant after the death of Cabinet minister and former cricketer Chetan Chauhan.
The bypass of Ghatampur in Kanpur Nagar district was made necessary due to the death of Minister of State Kamal Rani Varun. Both ministers had died from COVID-19.
Tundla’s seat became vacant after its SP MP Singh Baghel was elected to Lok Sabha, while Bangarmau’s seat in Unnao became vacant after BJP MP Kuldeep Singh Sengar was sentenced in a rape case.
The BJP had dumped Sengar shortly after he was found involved in the rape case.
Bypasses of the Bulandshahr, Deoria and Malhani seats were made necessary due to the deaths of incumbent MPs Virendra Singh Sirohi, Janmejay Singh and Parasnath Yadav (SP) respectively.
Bhim’s army chief Chandra Shekhar Aazad’s Azad Samaj party is testing its electoral popularity in Bulandshahr by lining up Mohammad Yameen, eager to consolidate his hold among the Dalits ahead of the 2022 elections.
While Bulandshahr has the highest number of 18 candidates, Ghatampur has the lowest number of six candidates. Sixteen contenders are in the fray in Malhani, 14 each in Naugaon Sadat and Deoria, 10 each in Bangarmau and Tundla.
