UP polls: BJP candidate Shrikant Sharma says, development, women safety top issues

Uttar Pradesh power minister and Bharatiya Janata Party candidate from Mathura Assembly constituency Shrikant Sharma cast his vote at a polling station in the district on Thursday, and said that the Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath led government has laid the foundation for a prosperous state.

"These elections are no ordinary but are associated with the development and safety of women in the state. In the last five years, we have laid the foundation for a prosperous Uttar Pradesh," said Sharma.

Meanwhile, long queues of voters are being seen at polling booths across Mathura district as the first phase of polling got underway in the state.

Voting for the first phase of the Uttar Pradesh elections for 58 Assembly seats, covering 11 districts of the state, began on Thursday at 7 am.

The voting will conclude at 6 pm today.

The first phase will cover the 'Jat-dominant belt' of the western parts of the state.

The districts going to the polls today are Mathura, Muzaffarnagar, Meerut, Ghaziabad, Bulandshahar, Hapur, Shamli, Baghpat, Aligarh, Agra and Gautam Buddha Nagar.

As many as 623 candidates are in the fray in the first phase of the assembly polls while nearly 2.27 crore voters will decide their fate.

Nearly 50,000 paramilitary personnel from 412 companies of central paramilitary forces have been deployed at different locations to maintain law and order as the election campaign for the first phase of Assembly polls in western Uttar Pradesh ended on Tuesday evening.

The police have sealed the borders of the State and strict vigilance is underway to maintain peace in 58 Assembly constituencies for which polling is underway.

The 403-member Uttar Pradesh Assembly is scheduled to go to the polls in seven phases on February 10, 14, 20, 23, 27, March 3, and 7. The counting of votes will take place on March 10.

(ANI)

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