As the first phase of the 403-member Uttar Pradesh Assembly concluded on Thursday, the voter turnout for the Jat-dominant belt of western Uttar Pradesh was recorded to be nearly 60%.
As per the Election Commission of India’s Voter Turnout application, the total voter turnout for the first phase of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections was 59.87% at the end of the session. The districts which recorded the highest voter turnout were Shamli with 66.14%, followed by Muzaffarnagar and Mathura at 65.32% and 62.90% respectively.
Gautam Buddha Nagar reported only 54.38% voter turnout till 7:55 pm. Other than Gautam Buddha Nagar, the districts with the lowest reported voter turnouts are Ghaziabad, Meerut, Agra with 52.43%, 60% and 60.23% respectively.
This phase of polls covered 58 Assembly constituencies across 11 districts of the state. The voting, which concluded at 6 pm, will decide the electoral fate of 623 candidates. In the Noida Assembly seat, Samajwadi Party’s Sunil Chaudhary contested against Defence Minister Rajnath Singh’s son Pankaj Singh. Congress leader Pankhuri Pathak and BSP leader Kriparam Sharma were also in the fray from the same seat.
The police had sealed the borders of the state and strict vigilance was underway to maintain peace in the 58 constituencies where elections were underway.
The second phase of polling for the Uttar Pradesh Assembly is scheduled for 14 February. 586 candidates are in the fray for 55 Assembly Constituencies in the second phase, including nine reserved for the Scheduled Castes.