Lucknow/Pilibhit: The first six hours of polling on Friday in eight western Uttar Pradesh seats where voting is taking place in the first round of the Lok Sabha election had an average voter participation of 36.96 percent. Polling began at 7 a.m., and as of 1 p.m., the Election Commission (EC) reported 42.32 percent voting in Saharanpur, 35.25 percent in Moradabad, 37.92 percent in Kairana, 32.28 percent in Nagina, 38.51 percent in Pilibhit, 36.08 percent in Bijnor, 32.86 percent in Rampur, and 34.51 percent in Muzaffarnagar.
These seats are located in the Jat and sugarcane belts of the state. According to election authorities, the polls are running well and there are no serious issues with law and order.
Some Pilibhit district residents have proposed a ballot boycott in protest of a lack of municipal services. Residents of Purana village, which is inside the Barkheda Police Station borders, have stated that they will not vote in protest of the lack of a bridge in the region.
People in Dahgala, Bakshpur, and neighboring villages boycotted the polls because the access to the villages through the officers’ colony was allegedly closed.
Residents of various communities in the Neuria district have stated that they will not vote because they are dissatisfied with the subject of man-animal conflict. They said that tigers from the adjacent Pilibhit Tiger Reserve (PTR) get out of the forest and murder civilians, but the administration has done little to prevent such instances.
Pilibhit District Magistrate Sanjay Kumar Singh stated, “We have received information that some villagers are boycotting the polls over local issues.” Officials have been asked to visit these towns to speak with residents and assure their participation in the voting process.
Harendra Singh Malik, a Samajwadi Party (SP) candidate, accused booth grabbing in a hamlet in Muzaffarnagar district and urged the EC to send paramilitary officers.
The former Rajya Sabha MP released a letter on social media that he submitted to the chief election commissioner in Delhi, accusing the BJP of deploying paramilitary forces to Kutba Kutbi, the hamlet of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate Sanjeev Balyan, claiming “booth capturing” by party operatives.
Sir, I am the Samajwadi Party’s candidate for the (03) Muzaffarnagar Lok Sabha seat. BJP operatives are taking booths in Kutba Kutbi hamlet, where BJP candidate Sanjeev Balyan lives, and people are being beaten up and driven away without voting, according to Malik.
However, District Election Officer Aravind Mallappa Bangari disputed the allegations and stated that he, along with the district police head, is on his way to the hamlet to assess the situation.
Among the important candidates in this phase of voting are BJP’s Jitin Prasada from Pilibhit, Union Minister Balyan from Muzaffarnagar, and Azad Samaj Party president Chandra Shekhar Azad from Nagina.
In this election, the incumbent BJP has formed an alliance with the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD), while the SP has united with the Congress. The Bahujan Samaj Party has opted to go solo.
In the first phase, 80 contenders (73 men and seven women) compete. According to the Election Commission, 1.43 crore persons are eligible to vote in this round.
According to Uttar Pradesh Chief Electoral Officer Navdeep Rinwa, voting is already underway at 14,849 polling stations. To provide foolproof security, 6,018 inspectors and sub-inspectors, 35,750 constables, and 24,992 home guard men, as well as 60 Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) and 220 Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) units, have been deployed.
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