First of 7 rounds today: 8 Lok Sabha seats up for grab in Uttar Pradesh

Voting will be held from 7 am to 6 pm, Rinwa said.

Fourteen candidates are in the fray from Kairana, 12 from Moradabad, 11 each from Muzaffarnagar and Bijnor, 10 each from Saharanpur and Pilibhit and six each from Nagina and Rampur.

According to the Election Commission (EC), 1.43 crore people are eligible to cast their votes in the first phase in these constituencies. Of these, 76.23 lakh are men, 67.14 lakh women and 824 are transgender persons. According to data compiled by political parties, Muslim voters account for 35 to 50 per cent of the electorate on these seats.

In the first phase, 14,845 polling booths and 7,693 polling stations, with 3,571 categorised as “critical”, have been set up. “Elaborate security arrangements have been made by the Election Commission of India for fair and peaceful elections. Four general observers, five police observers, and 10 expenditure observers have been entrusted with overseeing the polling process. Besides, a substantial deployment of personnel, including 1,272 sector magistrates, 150 zonal magistrates, 103 static magistrates, and 1861 micro observers has been made. To maintain peace, a large contingent of paramilitary forces has been stationed for the orderly conduct of elections, including safeguarding of strong rooms. Furthermore, provisions have been made for paramilitary forces and police to furnish air ambulance and helicopter services for swift medical aid in case of emergencies,” said Rinwa in a press statement.

A helicopter will be stationed in Moradabad on April 18 and 19, while an air ambulance will be on the standby in Bareilly on April 19 to deal with any exigency, he said, adding that a total of 4,083 heavy vehicles, 5,058 light vehicles, as well as 65,380 polling personnel have been deployed to facilitate the voting.

“Additionally, 18,662 electronic voting machine (EVM) control units, 18,734 ballot units, and 19,603 VVPATs have been readied for the voting process. Live webcasting has been arranged for 50 percent of the polling places, with oversight from the District Election Officers, Chief Electoral Officer, and Election Commission of India at all three levels. Apart from this, arrangements for videography have also been made at 1,510 polling places. The ECI has distributed voter information slips to voters, enabling them to ascertain their assigned polling place and serial number. In the first phase, a total of 1,42,96,852 (99.27 percent) voters have received these slips,” said Rinwa.

The CEO said that voter guides have been circulated for voters’ convenience, with 28,44,953 distributed in these districts in the first phase. “Furthermore, voters can access information about their polling place through the Voter Helpline App and the Election Commission of India’s website,” he added.

Rinwa said that a total of 11,79,051 voter photo identity cards were distributed in these districts from October 27, 2023 to April 16, 2024.

“During the voting period, all booth level officers (BLOs) have been instructed to remain present at the helpdesk with the alphabetical locator voter list and assist the voters. For physically handicapped voters, arrangements have been made for wheel-chairs at polling stations and volunteers at various places,” said the officer.

As per the ECI’s instructions, in addition to the voter photo identity card, 12 other identity cards (Aadhaar card, MNREGA job card, passbook with photo issued by banks/post offices, health insurance smart card issued under a scheme of the Ministry of Labour, driving license), driving licence, PAN card, smart card issued by RGI under NPR, passport, pension documents with photo, service identity card with photo issued by Central/state government/public sector undertakings/public limited companies to their employees, government identity cards and unique disability ID (UDID) cards issued to legislative council members will be valid for the purpose of identification of voters at the polling place.

Employment, education and development are among the leading issues for the voters in these constituencies. While the BJP has pitched its campaign on development and the Ram temple in Ayodhya, the opposition leaders have raised the issues of farm bills and employment in the region.

The BJP has joined hands with the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) and the SP has allied with the Congress for the election, while the BSP has decided to go solo.

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has addressed more than 20 rallies in the constituencies going to polls in the first phase. SP president Akhilesh Yadav has addressed rallies in Pilibhit, Bijnor, Muzaffarnagar, Moradabad and Nagina while BSP supremo Mayawati and her nephew Akash Anand have addressed several election meetings. Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra held a roadshow in Saharanpur on Wednesday, garnering support for Imran Masood, who is in the fray as the INDIA opposition bloc candidate.

— With PTI inputs