The campaigning for the first phase of Urban Local Bodies came to an end on Tuesday evening. In the first phase, nine divisions will go to the polls on May 4 from 7 am to 6 pm including 10 Mayor posts in Lucknow, Prayagraj, Varanasi, Agra, Mathura, Gorakhpur, Firozabad, Jhansi, Moradabad and Saharanpur.
This civic polls election has been termed as a semifinal before the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, and the ruling BJP led by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath is leaving no stone unturned to woo the voters. However, the opposition leaders including Akhilesh Yadav of Samajwadi Party and Mayawati of BSP kept themselves almost aloof from the campaigning.
Akhilesh Yadav held a road show in Lucknow through metro rail on Monday in support of his party’s Mayor candidate. Yogi Adityanath had campaigned vigorously in every district and wrapped his first phase electioneering in Lucknow on Tuesday after holding meetings in Prayagraj and Jhansi.
Of the total 75 districts in the state, 37 will go to polls in the first phase and remaining 38 districts will go to polls on May 11 which includes Ghaziabad, Meerut, Aligarh, Shahjahanpur, Bareilly ,Kanpur and Ayodhya Mayor seats.
The counting of votes will be taken up on May 13. A total of 4.32 crore voters will exercise their franchise at 43198 polling booths to elect members for 14,684 posts in this civic poll.