In UP, polling brisk in rural and slow in urban areas

12:56 October 21

In UP, polling brisk in rural and slow in urban areas

Voting begins on all 11 seats in Uttar Pradesh

Lucknow:Brisk polling has been witnessed in the rural Assembly segments of Uttar Pradesh while the pace of polling is rather sluggish in the urban areas.

The average polling percentage at 9 a.m. was 8.4, according to the Chief Electoral Officer (CEC).

The Lucknow Cantt seat recorded a polling percentage of 3.7 till 9 a.m. while the Govind Nagar seat in Kanpur witnessed 5 percent voting in the first two hours.

Bahraich and Ghosi saw brisk polling with each recording a 10 percent voter turnout.

Jalalpur recorded a 10 percent voting, while Zaidpur in Barabanki saw 9 percent turnout.

Polling was by and large peaceful though EVM glitches were reported from some constituencies.

11:14 October 21

UP bypolls: 7 fake agents caught in Rampur

Seven fake agents were detained by the police from different poll booths in Rampur.

According to reports, these agents were working on behalf of Tanzeen Fatima, the Samajwadi Party candidate's booths.

The agents were later let off after interrogation, police said.

Security has been beefed up in various poling stations and checking of agents has begun, they said.

09:23 October 21

UP bypolls: Polling delayed by an hour due to EVM snag

Due to some technical glitches in the Electronic voting machine and VVPAT in the first hour of voting, the polling was smooth. The faulty machines were changed immediately.

The election commission has deployed central forces in all the 11 assembly constituencies.

07:39 October 21

Voting begins on all 11 seats in Uttar Pradesh

Voting for the assembly polls have begun in Uttar Pradesh and the state  is all set for mini assembly elections-11 seats are to have by-elections.

02:08 October 21

In UP, polling brisk in rural and slow in urban areas

UP all set for bypolls in 11 Assembly seats

Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh is all set to witness bye-elections to 11 Assembly constituencies on Monday.

The Assembly by-elections will be held in Gangoh, Rampur, Iglas (SC), Lucknow Cantonment, Govind Nagar, Manikpur, Pratapgarh, Zaidpur (SC), Jalalpur, Balha (SC) and Ghosi seats.

Polling on these seats will be held on Monday and counting will take place on October 24.

A four-cornered contest will be witnessed on all seats with the BJP, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), Samajwadi Party (SP) and Congress trying their luck.

For the BJP, these by-elections are likely to bring good news since the opposition parties have run a lackluster campaign. The BJP has mobilized its cadres for the by-polls and its leaders have speared no efforts to win all seats.

It held 8 of the 11 seats while the SP and BSP held one seat each. BJP ally Apna Dal held the Pratapgarh seat.

The Assembly by-polls were necessitated after some MLAs won the Lok Sabha elections and resigned as members of the state assembly.

The Ghosi Assembly seat fell vacant following the resignation of MLA Phagu Chauhan after he was appointed the Governor of Bihar.

BJP state president Swatantra Dev Singh said on Sunday that the by-elections are a "one-sided contest in favor of the BJP."

"The charisma of Modi and the hard work of Yogi will ensure the victory of BJP on all seats," he said.

Congress state president Ajay Kumar Lallu, on the other hand is rather hopeful of a turnaround for his party in the by-elections.

"We have several challenges before us but with the blessings of the seniors and the support of the youth, will be make gains in these by-elections and no one will be able to stop the party from coming to power in 2022," he said.

The Congress did not hold any of the seats going to by-polls.

The BSP and the SP, which had contested the Lok Sabha elections in alliance, have gone their separate ways. Leaders of both the parties did not campaign in the bypolls.

Meanwhile, the maximum candidates, 13 each, are from Lucknow Cantonment and Jalalpur assembly constituencies, followed by 12 in Ghosi and 11 each in Gangoh, Pratapgarh and Balha (SC).

Nine candidates each are in the fray in Govind Nagar and Manikpur. Seven candidates each will contest the bypolls from Rampur, Iglas (SC) and Zaidpur (SC).