UP polls: Nearly 58 pc turnout recorded up to 5 pm, hour before closing time

About 58 per cent voter turnout was recorded till 5 pm on Thursday in Uttar Pradesh, where polling was held across 58 assembly constituencies in 11 districts.

Polling closed at 6 pm but those already in queue were allowed to vote, Election Commission officials said.

There were reports of technical snags in EVMs at some places, but voting was peaceful, they added.

''An average 57.79 per cent polling was witnessed in Uttar Pradesh till 5 pm,'' an official said.

Additional Chief Election Officer (ACEO) B D Ram Tiwari said, ''There were reports of a technical error in EVMs at some places.'' Those EVMs were being replaced as the reports came in, he added.

On the Samajwadi Party's allegation that poor voters were not allowed to exercise their franchise in Dundukheda village in the Kairana assembly constituency, Tiwari said the district magistrate concerned was asked to look into the matter.

Till 5 pm, Agra recorded 56.61 per cent polling, Aligarh 57.25 per cent, Baghpat 61.35 per cent, Bulandshahr 60,52 per cent, Gautam Buddh Nagar 54.77 per cent, Ghaziabad 54.77 per cent, Hapur 60.50 per cent, Mathura 58.51 per cent, Meerut 58.52 cent, Muzaffarnagar 62.14 per cent and Shamli 61.78 per cent, an EC report said.

A report from Ghaziabad said a minor skirmish took place between supporters of BJP leader V K Singh and Congress leader Rajan Kant, allegedly when the former addressed media persons and talked about the work done by the BJP within the premises of a polling station, and security personnel had to intervene.

In Bulandshahr, a groom reached the Char Khamba polling station in the Sadar assembly segment to cast his vote before joining his marriage procession. The groom, Balram, after performing the 'Ghudchadhi' ceremony, reached the polling station on a motorcycle to cast his vote.

Voters in Mathura braved a dense fog in the morning when the polling began but visibility improved as the day progressed.

As many as 623 candidates, including 73 women, are in the fray for the first phase, and around 2.28 crore voters, including 1.24 crore men and 1.04 women besides others, are eligible to cast their franchise, state EC officials said.

State ministers whose fate will be decided in the first phase include Shrikant Sharma, Suresh Rana, Sandeep Singh, Kapil Dev Agarwal, Atul Garg and Chowdhury Lakshmi Narain.

Campaigning in the constituencies going to the polls in the first round of the seven-phase election in the politically crucial state ended on Tuesday evening.

Leading the campaign for the BJP, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had pitched for a double-engine government for fast-paced development while attacking the Samajwadi Party-Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) combine.

While Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath tried to put the spotlight back on the alleged ''exodus'' of Hindus from Kairana before 2017, SP president Akhilesh Yadav claimed that people have made up their mind to vote out the BJP.

The SP-RLD alliance has centred its electioneering on farmers' issues and has attacked Yogi Adityanath over poll promises.

BSP chief Mayawati, who started the poll campaigning late, reminded the people of her government's track record on law and order in the past.

The Congress, under the leadership of its general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, has generated interest among the people as seen in door-to-door campaigns.

The first phase of polling covered the Jat-dominated belt of western Uttar Pradesh from where farmers had participated actively in the stir against the Centre's now-repealed agri laws in the national capital.

In 2017, the BJP had bagged 53 of the 58 seats in the region, while the Samajwadi Party and the BSP had got two seats each. One seat had gone to the Rashtriya Lok Dal.