Elaborate security arrangements have been made in 37 districts of Uttar Pradesh for the first phase polling for Urban Local Bodies to be held on Thursday.
Among the constituencies that will go to polls in the first phase are Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Varanasi, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s Gorakhpur, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh’s Lucknow and Prayagraj.
Rajnath Singh will vote in Lucknow and Yogi Adityanath in Gorakhpur tomorrow while BSP chief Mayawati could also vote in Lucknow.
Over 2 lakh policemen, along with 35 companies of Central forces and 85 companies of PAC, have been deployed for the first phase of polling when 2.40 crore voters will elect candidates in 7678 posts in the three tier civic polls. There are over 80,000 candidates in this phase.
The polling will be held between 7 am to 6 pm.
The polling for the second phase in the remaining 38 districts including 7 mayors post will be held on May 11 while votes of both the phases will be counted on May 13.
State Election Commissioner Manoj Kumar told The Statesman here on Wednesday that all arrangements for rig free polling have been completed.
He said polling parties would reach the booth by tonight so that polling could be started tomorrow on time. While the voting for all the 10 corporations would be held through EVMs, the polling in Nagar Panchayat and Nagar Palika would be held through traditional ballot papers.
The 10 Mayor posts where polling will be held on Thursday are Lucknow,Prayagraj, Varanasi, Agra, Mathura, Gorakhpur, Firozabad, Jhansi, Moradabad and Saharanpur.
Districts going to polls in the first phase are Shamli, Muzaffarnagar, Saharanpur, Bijnor, Amroha, Moradabad, Rampur, Sambhal, Agra, Firozabad, Mathura, Mainpuri, Jhansi, Jalaun, Lalitpur, Kaushambi, Prayagraj, Fatehpur, Pratapgarh, Unnao, Hardoi, Lucknow, Rae Bareli, Sitapur, Lakhimpurkheri, Gonda, Bahraich, Balrampur, Shravasti, Gorakhpur Deoria, Maharajganj, Kushinagar,Ghazipur, Varanasi, Chandauli and Jaunpur.