Lucknow: Polling for the first round of Lok Sabha elections in eight constituencies of western Uttar Pradesh began at 7 am Friday.
The seats include Saharanpur, Bijnor, Kairana, Muzaffarnagar, Nagina (reserved), Moradabad, Rampur and Pilibhit. These fall in the Jat and sugarcane belt of the state.
Among the prominent candidates are BJP’s Jitin Prasada from Pilibhit, Union minister Sanjeev Balyan from Muzaffarnagar and Azad Samaj Party chief Chandra Shekhar Azad from Nagina.
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party has joined hands with the Rashtriya Lok Dal while the Samajwadi Party has allied with the Congress for the election. The Bahujan Samaj Party has decided to go solo.
A total of 80 candidates — 73 men and seven women — are in the fray in the first phase of polling.
The Election Commission (EC) said, 1.43 crore people are eligible to cast their votes in the first phase. Of them, 76.23 lakh are men, 67.14 lakh are women and 824 are transgender persons.
According to data compiled by political parties, Muslim voters account for 35 to 50 per cent of the electorate in these constituencies.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Electoral Officer Navdeep Rinwa said the polling is being held on 14,849 polling booths at 7,689 polling centres.
To ensure tight security arrangements, 6,018 inspectors and sub-inspectors, 35,750 constables and 24,992 home guard personnel, along with 60 companies of the Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) and 220 companies of the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) have been deployed.
