UK, Goa to vote along with UP today

LUCKNOW/DEHRADUN/PANAJI: While Uttarakhand and Goa will vote in the first and only phase of assembly elections on Monday, 403 seat-strong Uttar Pradesh will hold the second of the seven phases of polling in the state.

Polling in Uttarakhand and Goa will begin at 8am and conclude at 6pm, while in UP, it will be held from 7am to 6pm.

While Goa will vote to decide the fate of 301 candidates who are in the fray for 40 assembly seats, over 81 lakh voters will decide the fate of 632 candidates in Uttarakhand which has 70 assembly seats. In Uttar Pradesh, the second phase comprises 55 assembly seats from which as many as 586 candidates are in the fray with the seats spread across nine districts – Saharanpur, Bijnor, Moradabad, Sambhal, Rampur, Amroha, Budaun, Bareilly and Shahjahanpur. The first phase of polling in the state was held on February 10.

The counting of votes for all the states will be done March 10.

Traditionally a state with bipolar politics, Goa is witnessing a multi-cornered contest this time, with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and other smaller parties vying to make a mark on the state’s electoral scene.

To check the spread of Covid-19, voters will be provided hand gloves at the polling stations, an election official said, adding that more than 100 ‘allwomen’ polling booths were set up in the state for the convenience of female voters. As many as 81 flying squads were operational across the coastal state, he said.

The prominent candidates include Chief Minister Pramod Sawant (BJP), Leader of the Opposition Digambar Kamat (Congress), former CMs Churchill Alemao (TMC), Ravi Naik (BJP), Laxmikant Parsekar (independent), former deputy CMs Vijai Sardesai (GFP) and Sudin Dhavalikar (MGP), late CM Manohar Parrikar’s son Utpal Parrikar and AAP’s CM face Amit Paleker.

Over 11 lakh people in the state are eligible to cast their votes on Monday.

The Congress and the Goa Forward Party (GFP) are fighting the election in alliance, while the Mamata Banerjee-led TMC has tied-up with the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) to contest the polls.

The Shiv Sena and the NCP had also announced their prepoll alliance, while the Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP is contesting without a tie-up with any other political party.

The Revolutionary Goans, Goencho Swabhimaan Party, Jai Mahabharat Party and Sambhaji Brigade are also in the poll fray, besides 68 independent candidates.

“We are committed to ensure there is a level-playing field for all candidates. We are also monitoring the preparations by all polling officers,” the election official said.

In Uttarakhand, which will see its fifth assembly election after its creation in 2000, important candidates include chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, his cabinet colleagues Satpal Maharaj, Subodh Uniyal, Arvind Pandey, Dhan Singh Rawat and Rekha Arya, besides state BJP president Madan Kaushik.

Prominent faces from the Congress in the fray include former chief minister Harish Rawat, former minister Yashpal Arya, state Congress president Ganesh Godiyal and Leader of Opposition in the fourth assembly Pritam Singh.

ON THE OTHER HAND, AS MANY AS 20,142,441 VOTERS ARE ELIGIBLE TO EXERCISE THEIR FRANCHISE IN THE SECOND PHASE IN UTTAR PRADESH.

Traditionally, the politics of Uttarakhand has been largely bi-polar with Congress and BJP governing the state alternately, but this time the Aam Aadmi Party is also in the running fielding its candidates from all the 70 assembly constituencies in the state.

There are a total of 81,72,173 voters in the state and 11,697 polling booths spread over 8,624 locations, said chief electoral officer Saujanya.

On the other hand, as many as 20,142,441 voters are eligible to exercise their franchise in the second phase in UP. Of them, 10,761,476 are male voters and 9,379,704 are female and 1,261 third gender voters.

In the first phase, which was concentrated on the western region, the total voter turnout was over 62%=, with highest voting in Shamli at 69.40%. Lowest polling was recorded in Ghaziabad at 55%. In the third phase, 59 seats will be up for polling in 16 districts.