UP election 2022 first phase: Voting in 58 constituencies across 11 districts today, 623 candidates in fray

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Uttar Pradesh Assembly Election 2022 First Phase: Voting in 58 assembly constituencies in the first of the seven-phase high-stakes Uttar Pradesh assembly election 2022 is set to commence today. Polling will be held in 11 districts including Muzaffarnagar, Meerut, Baghpat, Ghaziabad, Shamli, Hapur, Gautam Buddh Nagar, Bulandshahr, Aligarh, Agra and Mathura. Uttar Pradesh has a total of 403 assembly constituencies. The counting of votes will take place on March 10. ASSEMBLY ELECTIONS 2022: FULL COVERAGE

• Polling will commence at 7 am and end at 6 pm.
• A total of 623 candidates will be in fray in the first phase of Uttar Pradesh elections.
• There are around 2.27 crore eligible voters who will exercise their right to vote.
• The polling will be held in Uttar Pradesh's western and Doab regions. 
• In the first phase, polling will be held in several Jat-dominated regions. 
• For the first phase, BJP has fielded 17 Jat candidates while SP and alliance partner Rashtriya Lok Dal (RJD) has fielded 12 and 6 Jat candidates respectively.
• The fate of several BJP heavyweights, including ministers, will be decided in the first phase of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls on Thursday (today).
• The electoral fate of nine ministers in the Yogi Adityanath government will be decided by voters. The ministers are Srikant Sharma from Mathura, Atul Garg from Ghaziabad, Suresh Rana from Thana Bhawan, Kapildev Agarwal from Muzaffarnagar and Sandeep Singh from Atrauli.
• Other ministers whose fate will be decided are Laxminarayan Chaudhary from Chhata, Anil Sharma from Shikarpur, G.S. Dharmesh from Agra Cantt. and Dinesh Khatik from Hastinapur.

Fight for first phase

The canvassing for the first phase remained confined to the virtual medium due to a ban on roadshows and physical rallies in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

Leading the campaign for the BJP, Prime Minister Narendra Modi pitched for a double-engine government for fast-paced development while attacking the Samajwadi Party-Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) combine.

While Union Home Minister Amit Shah and UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath tried to put the spotlight back on alleged "exodus" of Hindus from Kairana before 2017, SP president Akhilesh Yadav claimed that people have made up their mind to vote out the BJP from power.

The SP-RLD alliance has centred their electioneering on farmers' issues and has attacked Adityanath over poll promises.

BSP chief Mayawati, who started campaigning late, reminded people of her government's track record on law and order in the past.

The Congress under the leadership of its general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra has generated interest as seen in door-to-door campaigns.

The Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls will be held in seven phases in February-March starting from February 10 (today). Counting of votes will be held on March 10.

In the 2017 Uttar Pradesh assembly elections, in 58 out of total of 403 seats in the state, BJP won 53 while Samajwadi Party got 2 seats each

(With inputs from PTI, IANS)

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