The Election Commission will issue notification for the first phase of the assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh today kick-starting the seven-phase election process in the state. 58 assembly constituencies of 11 districts will go for voting in the first phase on February 10. The districts going to polls in the first phase are Shamli, Meerut, Muzaffarnagar, Bagpat, Hapur, Ghaziabad, Gautam Buddha Nagar, Bulandshahar, Mathura, Agra and Aligarh.
The last date for filing the nomination for the first phase of the polls is the 21st of January and the last date for the withdrawal of the candidature is the 27th of January. Scrutiny of the nomination papers will be held on 24th January. Political parties have started releasing the list of their candidates. The Congress released its first list of 125 candidates yesterday. The Samajwadi Party and Rashtriya Lok Dal alliance have also announced the names of 29 candidates. The BJP’s Central Election Committee has also finalised the names of its candidates in a meeting held in New Delhi during the last three days and will release the list soon.
The Bahujan Samaj Party has announced that it will not forge any alliance in the state and that it will contest the polls on its own. Party president Mayawati and senior leader and MP Satish Chandra Mishra will not contest the elections. Shiv Sena can field 50 to 100 candidates in the state. Senior party leader and MP Sanjay Raut has said the party will not join any alliance in the state. Uttar Pradesh has a total of 403 assembly seats. Over 15 crore voters will exercise their franchise during the polls in the state.
