Around 53 % polling in Uttar Pradesh bypolls

Around 53 % voters on Saturday cast their votes in bypolls to 11 Assembly seats and one Lok Sabha seat in Uttar Pradesh amid tight security arrangements.

Around 56.4 % votes were polled in Mainpuri Lok Sabha seat where Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav and his MP wife Dimple Yadav cast their votes, while on an average 53.18 % votes were polled in 11 Assembly seats, an official release said here.

A total of 118 candidates for 11 Assembly seats and 18 for one Lok Sabha seat were in fray while there were 57,62,249 electorate in these 12 seats, including Mainpuri. Among the Assembly constituencies, Thakurdwara in Moradabad and Nighasan in Lakhimpur witnessed brisk polling with 69 and 63.5 % turn out respectively, but it was tardy in Noida where only 32.5 % votes were polled followed by 34 % for Lucknow east seat.

Mild to heavy showers failed to dampen the spirit of the electorate at many places, except Lucknow and Noida. 

Security personnel, including those of the Central forces, were deployed in constituencies along with micro-observers to ensure free and fair elections, according to the election office.

Video recording and photography were also conducted at the polling centres. The Assembly seats where bypolls were held included Saharanpur city, Bijnor, Thakurdwara, Noida, Nighasan Lucknow east, Hamirpur, Charkhari, Sirathu, Balha and Rohania.

Bypoll was also held in Mainpuri Lok Sabha seat, which was vacated by SP supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav.

Eleven Assembly seats fell vacant after 10 BJP MLAs and one of its ally, Apna Dal, were elected to the Lok Sabha. Arrangement of web casting was also made at 176 sensitive polling stations.

While the BSP did not contest the bypolls, Congress and SP fielded candidates on all 11 Assembly seats, whereas BJP contested on 10 and its ally Apna Dal on one. In Mainpuri, BSP and Congress had not fielded their candidates.

Here the contest is between Mulayam Singh's kin Tej Pratap Singh and BJP's Prem Singh Shakya.

About 50 % polling was registered in Rohaniya Assembly seat, which falls under the Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Lok Sabha constituency Varanasi.