Tight vigil being maintained for free & fair elections
AMN
Polling has begun for the first phase of Uttar Pradesh Assembly Elections amid tight security. 73 constituencies in 15 western districts of the state are going to polls in this phase. Key districts include Kairana, Muzaffarnagar, Dadri, Meerut, Ghaziabad and Agra. Voting, which began at 7 AM, will end at 5 PM. Nearly 2 crore 60 lakh people will decide the political fate of 839 candidates, including 77 women.
Tight vigil is being maintained for free and fair elections in the state. 826 companies of paramilitary forces have been deployed at polling centres, with around 6,000 personnel stationed in Muzaffarnagar and neighbouring Shamli.
The main contest is between the Samajwadi Party-Congress alliance, Mayawati’s BSP, BJP and RLD in the state. District Election Officer DK Singh said, of the 887 polling centres in Muzaffarnagar, around 600 are critical where video cameras have been installed to maintain strict vigil.