Uttar Pradesh Elections 2017: First phase wraps up with 64% voter turnout
Deputy Election Commissioner in charge of Uttar Pradesh Vijay Dev termed the turnout as "exemplary" and said it will "set the tone for the remaining six phases" to be held between February 15 and March 8.
An estimated 64% voter turnout was witnessed on Saturday in the first of the seven-phased Uttar Pradesh polls which passed off peacefully in 73 Assembly constituencies, barring some stray incidents of violence.
A total of 2.60 crore voters, including over 1.17 crore women and 1,508 belonging to third gender category were eligible to cast their ballot to decide the fate of 839 candidates.
The districts where polling was held are Hapur, Shamli, Muzaffarnagar, Baghpat, Meerut, Ghaziabad, Gautam Buddha Nagar, Bulandshahr, Aligarh, Mathura, Hathras, Agra, Firozabad, Etah and Kasganj.
The first phase witnessed a 3% rise in voter turnout as in the same phase in 2012, covering these assembly constituencies, it was 61%.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) swept to victory in Uttar Pradesh three years ago, and the election in the state that follows the shore of the river Ganges will set the tone for the 2019 national elections. More broadly, voters will deliver a mid-term verdict on Modi and his nationalist party after his demonetization decision.
Amid tight security, voting was conducted in 73 constituencies of western Uttar Pradesh, where violence has erupted frequently over the last few years. Fighting between Hindus and Muslims killed about 65 people in 2013. In the town of Kairana, where residents came to blows last year when the local BJP MP accused Muslims of driving out Hindus, voters from both communities turned out in large numbers.
(With agency inputs)