UP Panchayat Election 2021: Voting Begins, Check Details Of Constituencies, Districts & Key Parties

Over three crore voters will exercise their franchise in this phase of the panchayat elections to be held across 51,176 polling booths.

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In the first phase of the panchayat election, which is being considered as the 'semi-final' of next year's assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, there will be voting for more than 2.21 lakh posts in 18 districts from Thursday. Polling in the state started at 7 am and continue till 6 pm.

The Election Commission has issued the Covid-19 guidelines for the same. At the time of polling, voters will have to wear mask and maintain social distancing. To contain the infection, circles are to be made at a distance of six-feet at the polling centres. Also Read: Maharashtra: Lockdown-Like Curfew Comes Into Effect, Over 2 Lakh Cops Deployed - Check What's Allowed & What's Not

Here are details about the panchayat polls:

• Over three crore voters will exercise their franchise in this phase of the panchayat elections to be held across 51,176 polling booths.
• These panchayat elections are being held in four phases starting from April 15, April 19, April 26 and April 29. The counting of votes will take place on May 2.
• The elections will go on to select candidates for the post of Zila Panchayat, BDC, Gram Pradhan and Gram Panchayat members.
• It is estimated that the total number of nominations for 8.69 lakh posts in all four phases may touch 17 lakh.
• In the wake of second wave of coronavirus, several BJP MLAs and MPs, including Kaushal Kishor, asked the Election Commission to postpone the Uttar Pradesh panchayat elections raising concerns saying the polls could become a “super spreader” event.
• Over 3.33 lakh candidates are fighting for more than 2.21 lakh seats in the first phase
• To fill the post of zila panchayat members, 11,442 candidates have been nominated from 779 wards, while as many as 81,747 candidates are contesting in 19,313 wards of kshetra panchayats.
• On the other hand for the gram panchayat, there are 1,14,142 candidates for 14,789 posts. For gram panchayat wards, there are 1,26,613 candidates for 1,86,583 seats.

Complete List of constituencies going to polls in Phase 1:

Saharanpur

Ghaziabad

Rampur

Bareilly

Hathras

Agra

Kanpur City

Jhansi

Mahoba

Prayagraj

Raebareli

Hardoi

Ayodhya

Shravasti

Sant Kabir Nagar

Gorakhpur

Jaunpur

Bhadohi

The districts going to the polls are Ayodhya, Agra, Kanpur, Ghaziabad, Gorakhpur, Jaunpur, Jhansi, Allahabad, Bareilly, Bhadohi, Mahoba, Rampur, Raebareli, Shravasti, Sant Kabir Nagar, Saharanpur, Hardoi, and Hathras.

Key candidates contesting the polls

The panchayat polls will be closely watched as some interesting candidates will be contesting the polls. Some of the names include Miss India 2015 contestant and model Diksha Singh who will be contesting for Zila panchayat post from Ward No. 26 of Jaunpur, Srikala Singh, who is a BJ P member and wife of gangster-turned-politician and murder accused Dhananjay Singh, from Ward 45 of Jaunpur. Meanwhile Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav’s niece Sandhya Yadav is another key candidate who has the support of the BJP for a Mainpuri district panchayat seat. On the other hand, the BJP has withdrawn the candidature of Sangeeta Sengar, wife of ex-BJP MP, and rape convict Kuldeep Singh Sengar.

This time panchayat elections will witness the Aam Aadmi Party, AIMIM, and Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Azad’s Azad Samaj Party contesting the polls for the first time. The AIMIM will contest the polls with the Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party.

Meanwhile, Uttar Pradesh registered 20,510 new coronavirus cases on Wednesday taking the tally to 1,11,835.