Lucknow, Allahabad, Kashi among 25 dists to vote today
1.29 crore voters will decide the fate of 24,368 candidates vying for 3,789 posts in urban local bodies.
LUCKNOW: As many as 1.29 crore voters will exercise their franchise in the second phase of the three-tier civic polls in 25 districts on Sunday amidst tight security arrangements by the state election commission (SEC).
Six municipal corporations (nagar nigams) -- Lucknow, Allahabad, Varanasi, Ghaziabad, Aligarh and Mathura -- are among the total 189 urban local bodies (ULBs) that are going to the polls in the penultimate phase.
Mathura was elevated to the status of a nagar nigam alongwith Ayodhta-Faizabad by the Yogi Adityanath government in April this year.
The commission is not holding elections for the ward no-38 of the nagar palika parishad, Loni under Ghaziabad district due to death of Rashtriya Lok Dal’s (RLD) candidate there.
Allahabad nagar nigam has the highest number of candidates, 24, contesting for the post of mayor while Atarra nagar palika parishad in Banda and Bhogaon nagar panchayat in Mainpuri lead in number of candidate for the posts of chairmen at 26 and 27, respectively.
The quinquennial civil polls are being held for nagar nigams, nagar palika parishad and nagar panchayats (semi-urban bodies). The SEC is using electronic voting machines in all the 16 nagar nigams while polling in nagar palika parishads and nagar panchayats are being held through the traditional ballot paper.
The third and last phase will be held on November 29 followed by counting on December 1.
LUCKNOW/ALLAHABAD/VARANASI/WESTUP: The stage is all set for the second phase of 2017 local bodies’ elections scheduled to be held in 25 districts on Sunday.
In the second phase, as many as 1.29 crore voters will decide the fate of 24,368 candidates vying for 3,789 posts in urban local bodies covering 25 districts.
Besides Lucknow, the districts going to polls in the second phase include Varanasi, Muzaffarnagar, Ghaziabad, Gautam Buddh Nagar, Amroha, Rampur, Pilibhit, Shahjahanpur, Aligarh, Mathura, Mainpuri , Farrukhabad, Etawah, Lalitpur, Banda, Allahabad, , Sultanpur, Ambedkarnagar, Bahraich, Shrawasti, Sant Kabirnagar, Deoria, Ballia and Bhadohi.
In Lucknow, as many as 33,63,771 voters – 17,92,890 males and 15,70,881 females – would exercise their franchise to seal the fate of 19 candidates in fray for the post of mayor and 1,057 aspirants for the posts of corporators and chairpersons.
After several rounds of training, the polling parties left for their respective centres on Saturday. The DEO has set up around 602 polling centres (nagar nigam and nagar panchayat area). Of these, 542 centres are in nagar nigam and 60 in nagar panchayat.
In nagar nigam area which includes 110 wards, polling would be carried out through EVM while ballot boxes will be used in 96 wards of nagar panchayat. The DEO has set up a complaint cell for different zones of nagar nigam.
District magistrate Kaushal Raj Sharma took stock of the preparations and security arrangements.
Over 11,000 security personnel including Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC), RRF, CRPF have been deployed to carry out free and fair elections in Lucknow. “Lucknow has been divided into several zones to ensure smooth polling and management. Nagar nigam has been divided into 25 zones whereas nagar panchayat has been segregated into 8 zones. A total of 33 zonal magistrates have been deputed to man the zones,” the DM said. “Around 30 drone cameras have been deployed to keep a vigil on sensitive and hypersensitive polling booths in the district,” he said.
The Election Commission has arranged for live webcast of 68 select polling centres and 935 video\still cameras along with 22 handycams are being used to keep a watch on polling centres. Polling will start from 7:30 am and conclude at 5 pm.
The DM said polling percentage in Lucknow was expected to go up as compared to last municipal elections in 2012 when 49 per cent polling was recorded.
According to officials, people were more aware of their voting rights and a series of awareness rallies and campaigns had been organised in the state which would also bear desired results.
Some officials, however, doubted the possibility of a hike in polling percentage. “Cities like Agra, Kanpur and Meerut witnessed 38.74, 44.27 and 50 per cent polling in second phase which was quite low. It is really difficult to expect much in Lucknow,” an officer said.
KASHI SET FOR POLLS AMID TIGHT SECURITY
Tight security arrangements have been put in Varanasi to ensure peaceful voting in Varanasi on Sunday.
DM Yogeshwar Ram Mishra said tight security was in place and strict action would be taken against anti-social elements and miscreants, if they tried to disrupt poll process.
“NSA will be imposed against anti-social elements,” he warned. Varanasi, Bhadohi and Ballia are part of 25 districts going to polls in second phase. In Varanasi, voting will take place for one nagar nigam and two municipal councils. A total of 11,39,380 voters will decide the fate of six candidates for mayoral elections and 611 for 90 posts of corporators in the Varanasi Nagar Nigam.
In Varanasi district, voting will take place for two municipal councils – Ram Nagar and Gangapur.
Ballia has three municipal councils and eight town areas while Bhadohi has two municipal councils and five town areas. Ballia and Bhadohi have 2,58,566 and 1,70,713 voters respectively.
10.75 VOTERS TO DECIDE FATE OF CANDIDATES IN SANGAM CITY
With Allahabad going to polls in the second phase of local bodies election on Sunday, 10.75 lakh voters will decide the fate of candidates in the fray for the post of mayor and 80 corporators in the municipal corporation.
Around 1.43 lakh voters (40 per cent women) will elect chairman of nine nagar panchayats and members for 121 wards falling under the purview of nagar panchayats.
A total of 880 candidates are vying for the post of 80 corporators while 24 candidates would test their fate for mayor’s post.
TWIN RELIGIOUS CITIES TO ELECT FIRST MAYOR TODAY
Residents of Mathura and Vrindavan will elect their first mayor on Sunday.
The local body of the twin cities has been accorded the status of a nagar nigam for the first time this year. Besides, Mainpuri district will also go to polls on Sunday, to elect its nagar palika chairman.