UP MLC Elections 2022: More than 98 percent voter turnout recorded in elections
Highlight
- On an average, more than 98 percent voting was recorded in the UP Legislative Council elections
- Polling for 27 seats under local authorities’ constituencies began at 8 am and ended at 4 pm
- CM Yogi Adityanath was among those who arrived early to exercise their franchise
The biennial Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council elections saw an average turnout of over 98 per cent on Saturday, officials said.
Voting for the 27 seats under local authorities’ constituencies began at 8 am and ended at 4 pm. According to the Election Commission of India, the average polling percentage till 4 pm was recorded at 98.11, with Rae Bareli recording the highest 99.35 per cent and Gorakhpur recording the lowest at 96.50 per cent.
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, who rose early to exercise his franchise, told reporters in Gorakhpur, “In the recent assembly elections, the BJP (like 2017) won more than two-thirds of the seats and formed a strong government. After four decades, a situation has come when a ruling party (BJP) will be able to garner a bigger mandate even in the Legislative Council.
“In 2017, the (BJP) government faced challenges as SP used to play negative role and hinder development and welfare programmes. But I am hopeful that in this election we will get a bigger mandate in the Legislative Council and development and welfare. There will be events. Go ahead,” he said.
Adityanath, who voted in the Gorakhpur-Maharajganj constituency, said in a tweet in Hindi, “For the creation of a new Uttar Pradesh and victory for good governance, (I) discharged my duty by voting in the biennial elections. from the Legislative Council.”
Earlier in another tweet, he urged people to vote for victory of development, nationalism and good governance and said, “Your one vote will strengthen the journey towards self-reliant Uttar Pradesh.”
Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav could not cast his vote in Mainpuri as two MLCs were elected unopposed from the Mathura-Etah-Mainpuri Local Authority constituency. SP Patron Mulayam Singh Yadav, National General Secretary Ram Gopal Yadav and Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party (Lohia) President Shivpal Singh Yadav cast their vote at Saifai polling station in Etawah. “Akhilesh Yadav did not cast his vote as the MLC was elected unopposed from this seat,” SP’s Mainpuri district president Devendra Singh Yadav told PTI.
Akhilesh Yadav is an MLA from Karhal Assembly constituency in Mainpuri district and a voter from the Mathura-Etah-Mainpuri Local Authority constituency. Union Minister Smriti Irani casts her vote in Amethi, from where she is a Lok Sabha MP. According to the Chief Electoral Officer of Uttar Pradesh, 95 candidates were in the fray and polling was held in 739 centres.
In these elections, 1,20,657 voters were eligible to exercise their franchise. The constituencies of local officials include Moradabad-Bijnor, Rampur-Bareilly, Pilibhit-Shahjahanpur, Sitapur, Lucknow-Unnao, Rae Bareilly, Pratapgarh, Sultanpur, Barabanki, Bahraich, Gonda, Faizabad, Basti-Siddharthnagar, Gorakhpur- Maharajganj, Deoria, Azamgarh- Mau, Ballia, Ghazipur, Jaunpur, Varanasi, Allahabad, Jhansi-Jalaun-Lalitpur, Kanpur-Fatehpur, Etawah-Farukhabad, Agra-Firozabad, Meerut-Ghaziabad and Muzaffarnagar-Saharanpur.
These seats are spread over 58 districts of the state. Counting of votes will take place on April 12. Nine MLCs have been elected unopposed from the constituencies of eight local authorities – Badaun, Hardoi, Kheri, Mirzapur-Sonbhadra, Banda-Hamirpur, Aligarh, Bulandshahr and Mathura-Etah-Mainpuri. ,
Two MLCs were elected unopposed from the Mathura-Eta-Mainpuri local authority’s constituency, while one MLC each was elected unopposed from the remaining constituencies. After a resounding victory in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, the BJP emerged as the single largest party in the state Legislative Council with a majority of 36 seats in the Upper House.
In the 100-member Legislative Council, the BJP currently has 34 MLCs, the SP 17 and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) four. Congress, Apna Dal (Sonelal) and Nishad Party have one member each. There are two MLCs in the Teachers’ Group, while the Independent Group (Independent Group) and Independents have one MLC each. At present 38 seats are vacant.
Voters in this biennial election are village heads, members and presidents of block development councils and district panchayats, and corporators in urban areas. MLAs and MPs also vote. The Congress and the BSP did not field any candidates in the Legislative Council elections, making it a direct fight between the BJP and the SP, the principal opposition in the state assembly.
Of the 36 BJP candidates, five are former SP leaders who had joined the saffron party ahead of the assembly elections. The SP had announced its candidates for 34 seats, leaving the Meerut-Ghaziabad and Bulandshahr seats for its ally Rashtriya Lok Dal, who were fielded, one of them was pediatrician Dr Kafeel Khan, whose The services were reportedly terminated after several children died due to oxygen. Crisis in a hospital from Deoria to Gorakhpur; Mashkoor Ahmed from Rampur-Bareilly; and MLC Sunil Kumar Sajan, Rajesh Kumar and Udayveer Singh from Lucknow-Unnao, Barabanki and Mathura-Etah-Mainpuri seats respectively.
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