Lucknow, April 26 (UNI) Approximately 24.31 per cent of over 1.67 crore voters in Uttar Pradesh cast their votes in the first two hours of polling on Friday registering lowest turnout in Mathura, where legendary Bollywood actress Hema Malini is seeking reelection.
In the second phase of Lok Sabha elections that will decide the fate of 91 candidates, including 10 female, from the state, poll officials said maximum votes were polled in Amroha (28.45 per cent), while Mathura from where sitting MLA Hema Malini is contesting for a third term, witnessed only 23.07 per cent polling till 11 am.
There was 24.42 per cent votes polled in Aligarh, 22.74 per cent in Baghpat, 23.43 per cent in Bulandshahr, 24.26 per cent in Gautam Buddha Nagar, 23.19 per cent in Ghaziabad and 25.67 per cent in Meerut.
UP Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Navdeep Rinwa said polling began at 7 am across nine districts under tight security and will continue till 6 pm.
"Eight constituencies where polling is being held are Amroha, Meerut, Baghpat, Ghaziabad, Gautam Buddha Nagar, Bulnadshahr, Aligarh and Mathura. While seven seats are of general category, Bulandshahr has been reserved for Scheduled Caste (SC)," he said.
He said that these eight constituencies are spread over nine districts, including Amroha, Hapur, Meerut, Baghpat, Ghaziabad, Gautam Buddha Nagar, Bulandshahr, Aligarh and Mathura.
Amid reports of glitches in EVM machines, the poll officers said that the polling continues peacefully and no untoward incident have been reported so far. There were also reports of boycotts by the local residents at a few places, but it was claimed that the issue has been sorted.
Meanwhile, after visiting about half a dozen polling stations, Sugarcane Development and Sugar Mills Minister in Uttar Pradesh Lakshmi Narayan Chaudhary said that people are voting in large numbers in favour of BJP for the good governance of Modi and Yogi and party candidate Hema Malini will win by a record number of votes.
On the other hand, BJP candidate Hema Malini said that she is Kanha's Gopi and Kanha is dear to the people of Braj, therefore she will leave no stone unturned for the development of Braj region.
In response to a question, she said that if the candidates of the opposition parties had done development in Mathura, she would not have been the MP here for the last 10 years.
There were reports of boycotts of the poll process in three villages of Govardhan Legislative Assembly.
Only eight votes were cast in Konai since morning and one vote was cast in village Dravali but not a single vote was cast in Mukhrai village. Similarly, in Devpura village near Barsana, there is news of only one vote being cast since morning.
People of these villages are boycotting the voting, demanding basic facilities like electricity, water and roads. On the other hand, the District Magistrate said that the people of these four villages are being explained and it is being said that their basic arrangements will be resolved further.
UNI TEAM AB ARN