LS polls UP records over 54 pc voting in 8 constituencies

    Lucknow, Apr 26 (PTI) A voter turnout of 54.83 per cent was recorded in the eight parliamentary constituencies of Uttar Pradesh where voting was held in the second phase of the Lok Sabha elections on Friday, according to the latest Election Commission figures.
    The constituencies that went to polls in this phase are Amroha, Meerut, Baghpat, Ghaziabad, Gautam Buddh Nagar, Bulandshahr, Aligarh and Mathura.
    Chief Electoral Officer of Uttar Pradesh Navdeep Rinwa told reporters, "Polling was held peacefully... no reports of any untoward incident."
    He added that in order to ensure free and fair polls, webcasting was done at 8,852 polling places and videography at 967.
    The official also said that after the start of voting, a total of 48 ballot units, 48 control units and 208 VVPATs were changed by 5 pm.
    According to the Voter Turnout app of the Election Commission of India (ECI), 64.02 per cent polling was recorded in Amroha, followed by 58.70 per cent in Meerut, 55.97 per cent in Baghpat, 49.65 per cent in Ghaziabad, 53.06 in Gautam Buddh Nagar, 55.79 in Bulandshahr, 56.62 per cent in Aligarh and 49.29 in Mathura.
    Voting ended at 6 pm and the final polling figures will be released later.
    There are more than 1.67 crore voters, 7,797 polling stations and 17,704 polling booths in these eight parliamentary constituencies.
    Among the 91 candidates in the fray are actor-turned-politician Hema Malini, seeking a third term from Mathura on a BJP ticket, and actor Arun Govil, who portrayed the role of Lord Ram in the television serial "Ramayan".
    The ruling BJP has fielded Govil from his native place Meerut, Atul Garg from Ghaziabad and Mahesh Sharma from Gautam Buddh Nagar.
    Danish Ali of the Congress is contesting the polls from Amroha. Ali claimed that his BJP rival will be far behind him in the election.
    In the Mathura Lok Sabha constituency, polling was initially boycotted by people of eight villages who complained about poor infrastructure and other issues, but the process was resumed later.
    "Of the eight villages boycotting polls in the Mant Assembly constituency, polling has resumed in seven villages," BJP MLA from Mant Assembly constituency Rajesh Chaudhary said.
    He said polling was boycotted for two to five hours but resumed in Mobarakpur, Sindhauni, Basau, Shiadgarhi, Nand Nagaria, Peeri and Bedna villages after assurances to villagers of addressing their problems on priority.
    Polling resumed after a brief hiatus in Devpura village falling under the Chhata assembly constituency, state Cabinet Minister Laxmi Narain Chaudhary said.
    Villagers in Konai and Bandpura villages boycotted polling for nearly five hours but it resumed after the administration intervened, SDM Goverdhan Nilam Srivastava claimed.
    There is a lot of enthusiasm among the first-time voters of Mathura, even in the rural areas such as Barsana, District Magistrate Shailendra Singh said.
    In Bulandshahr, voting could not start at the primary school in Chhotabas village in the Pahasu area with villagers staying away over the non-construction of a road.
    However, after assurances by administrative officials, voting began there around 11 am.
    BJP candidate Hema Malini told reporters that she was hopeful of people voting in favour of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
    "I would not have been the MP from Mathura had opposition party candidates worked even a little for the constituency," Malini said while responding to a question.
    Claiming herself to be the 'gopi' (female devotee) of 'Kanha', she said, "The promises I have made would be fulfilled to receive the blessings of Kanha."
    RLD president Jayant Chaudhary, along with his wife Charu Chaudhary, turned up at a booth in Mathura to cast their votes.
    "People are impressed by the performance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the past 10 years and that is why BJP is getting support from them in a big way," Jayant Chaudhary told reporters.
    In Baghpat, people from all walks of life preferred to vote early in the day to avoid the scorching heat and also clicked pictures at 'selfie' points.
    In Amroha, a woman died at the Shivdwara East Secondary School booth during the second phase of voting.
    Officials said that Aamna Khatoon (70), a resident of Mohalla Shiv, died soon after coming out of the polling station. District Magistrate Rajesh Tyagi expressed regret over the incident.
    Cricketer Mohammad Shami cast his vote in Amroha.
    In Ghaziabad, Union minister V K Singh cast his vote in the morning. Singh, the sitting BJP MP from Ghaziabad, had announced not to contest the elections this time and the party fielded former state government minister Atul Garg as its candidate.
    After casting his vote in Aligarh, SP candidate Bijendra Singh told reporters, "The country is run by the Constitution, not by emotions and the voting taking place in the country today is to save the Constitution and the truth. Therefore, I am confident that this time, the BJP will lose and the INDIA alliance will win."

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)