63% polling in Uttar Pradesh election first phase

An Indian election officer marks the finger of a voter at a polling station in Muzaffarnagar in Uttar Pradesh on February 11 2017 Voting got underway on February 11 in Indias most populous state Uttar Pradesh in a contest seen as a key test for Narendra Modi halfway into his first term as prime minister PicPTINew DelhiLucknow The first phase of the Uttar Pradesh elections passed off peacefully on Saturday with over 63 per cent polling recorded till 5 pm The percentage is expected to go up the Election Commission saidParticipation of voters has been exemplary Sixty three per cent voters have cast their vote till 5 pm and the number would go up as there were queues in front of the polling centres Deputy Election Commissioner Vijay Dev told reporters hereVoting was continuing at some polling stations since voters who had queued up by 5 pm were allowed to exercise their franchiseHe said the elections spread across 15 districts 73 assembly constituencies involved over 26 crore voters 839 candidates including 73 women candidatesHe said there was no major law and order problem and EVMs which malfunctioned at few polling booths were replaced within no timeElaborate security arrangements were made to ensure free and fair elections he said adding that over two lakh security personnel were deployed at various locations across the 15 districtsDev said that nearly three lakh troublemakers were bound downHe said 3888 cameras were also placed at various locations to keep watch on every activity in poll bound areasThe Deputy Election Commissioner also said that Rs 1956 lakh in cash 44 lakh litre of alcohol worth Rs 44 lakh and gold and silver worth Rs 14 crore was seized before the electionsAsked about the call for election boycott at a few places Dev said that things were sorted out at six out of seven places where poll boycott call was given by the public dissatisfied for various reasonsHe however expressed satisfaction on the overall exercise of polling and thanked and congratulated all political parties and general public for their cooperationThe first phase of elections has set the tone for the next six phases he saidThe polling percentage in the region has bettered the past two elections of 2007 and 2012 an election official in Lucknow told IANS based on reports gathered from all polling stations The average polling is over 60 per cent in western UP seatsBy the time voting ended Noida had recorded 59 per cent Dadri 61 Jewar 65 Bulandshahr 64 Shamli 62 Fatehabad 7082 Mathura 67 Agra 6394 and Fatehpur Siri 6949The polling percentage in Mathura improved by eight per cent over the 2012 state assembly electionsTotal vote percentage in the 2007 state assembly polls was 4596 per cent and 5940 per cent in 2012 This is set to be broken this time round as people have turned out in much larger numbersAt few places polling was disrupted or delayed due to technical snags in EVMs said an official adding that by and large voting was smooth and steady at most placesSporadic incidents of poll violence were also reported from some places Clashes between activists of the ruling Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party were reported from two placesThe largest constituency in this phase as per population is Sahibabad in Ghaziabad and the smallest is Jalesar in EtahThere were 26822 polling centres in this phase of polling Among the candidates in the fray was Pankaj Singh the son of Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh