New Delhi: A man in Noida reached a polling booth to cast his vote dressed as Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Thursday. In a video that has gone viral, the man, named Raju Kohli, can be seen arriving at a polling station in Noida Sector 11 wearing a saffron attire.
During Kohli's visit to the booth, people in the queue can be seen jostling to take pictures and selfies with him. Several people addressed him as "Yogi Baba". His supporters are also seen giving him security during his visit.
In another video that has gone viral, a groom can be seen reaching Char Khamba polling station in the Sadar assembly seat in Bulandshahr in a motorcycle to cast his vote before taking his marriage procession.
Balram said he felt necessary to exercise his franchise, PTI reported. After casting his vote, his marriage procession left from his house for Loni.
Election 2022 Voting Live Updates
Meanwhile, the first phase of polling in Uttar Pradesh took place peacefully on Thursday amid reports of technical snag in EVMs at some places.
Polling was held in 58 assembly seats spread across 11 districts in the western part of Uttar Pradesh. This phase is crucial for the ruling BJP as it covers the Jat-dominated belt of western UP from where farmers had participated in the protests against the Centre’s three farm laws.
State ministers whose fate will be decided in the first phase of voting include Shrikant Sharma, Suresh Rana, Sandeep Singh, Kapil Dev Agarwal, Atul Garg and Chowdhury Lakshmi Narain.
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.