UP Panchayat polls: Lucknow, Varanasi among 20 districts to vote in second phase today

After a dramatic first phase of panchayat elections in Uttar Pradesh, voting for the second phase is set to begin on Monday with more than 3.48 lakh candidates in the fray for over 2.23 lakh posts in 20 districts. Voting will be held from 7 am to 6 pm and more than 3.23 crore voters are eligible to exercise their franchise.

The second phase assumes significance as state capital Lucknow and Varanasi will go to polls in this round. Apart from Lucknow and Varanasi, polling will be held in Amroha, Azamgarh, Etawah, Etah, Kannauj, Gonda, Gautam Buddh Nagar, Chitrakoot, Pratapgarh, Badaun, Baghpat, Bijnor, Muzaffarnagar, Mainpuri, Maharajganj, Lakhimpur Kheri, Lalitpur, and Sultanpur districts on Monday.

For the 787 posts of members of Zila panchayats, there are 11,483 candidates. For the 19,653 seats of kshetra panchayats, as many as 85,232 candidates are in the fray. As far as the gram panchayats are concerned, there are 1,21,906 candidates for 14,897 posts. For the gram panchayat wards, there are 1,30,305 candidates for 1,87,781 posts.

The candidates will contest on “free symbols” given by the State Election Commission (SEC). More than 2.31 lakh poll officials have been deployed for the smooth conduct of the panchayat polls.

Repolling ordered over ‘rigging’ claims

The SEC has ordered repolling at 20 booths in nine districts of UP after officials reported incidents of rigging at the polling booths in the first phase. Repolling has been ordered at polling booths in Prayagraj’s Soraon Block, Agra’s Fatehabad and Jagner blocks, Jaunpur’s Jalalpur block, Rampur’s Bhahabad and Swar block, Hardoi’s Harpalpur, Kanpur Nagar’s Vidhnu block, Rae Bareilly’s Raahi and Maharajganj Blocks, Jhansi’s Moth block and Ayodhya’s Milkipur, Sohawal and Bikapur.

Voter turnout of 71% was recorded in the first phase of Panchayat polls held on April 15, with incidents of violence at some places. The districts that recorded the highest turnout were Kanpur Nagar (75%), Ghaziabad (74%) and Bareilly (73%).

In view of the coronavirus situation, the SEC had said last month that not more than five people would be allowed to accompany a candidate during door-to-door campaigning for the panchayat elections. Additional Election Commissioner Ved Prakash Verma said three-member teams were formed under the additional district magistrates to ensure that the directives issued by the SEC were being followed.