1.44 crore voters, 80 candidates in fray

LUCKNOW: Over 1.44 crore voters are eligible to exercise their democratic franchise in eight west UP Lok Sabha constituencies where 80 candidates, including seven women, are in the fray for the first phase of polling to be held on Friday.

The Election Commission of India (ECI) has completed its preparations for peaceful and fair polling in all these constituencies, Uttar Pradesh chief electoral officer (CEO) Navdeep Rinwa said on Thursday.

The polling in the eight Lok Sabha constituencies -- Saharanpur, Kairana, Muzaffarnagar, Bijnor, Nagina (SC), Moradabad, Rampur and Pilibhit -- will begin at 7 am and continue till 6 pm, Rinwa said at a press conference.

Kairana has the highest number of candidates 14 and Nagina and Rampur the lowest at six each. The ECI has set up 14,845 polling booths and 7,693 polling stations in the eight constituencies. Central paramilitary forces (CPMF) have been deployed in all the constituencies.

The security of the strong rooms in which EVMs will be stored after polling will be also in the hands o the CPMF. The ECI has also stationed air ambulance and helicopters in Moradabad and Bareilly to transport security personnel in an emergency, he said. The ECI, CEO and district returning officer will monitor polling on 50% of the booths

through webcasting. The ECI has also deployed 1,510 video teams at the polling booths, he said. The commission has set up 111 model polling stations, 45 booths will be managed by women personnel, 36 by youths and 32 booths by differently abled staff.