UP polls: BJP candidate from Agra Baby Rani Maurya casts vote

As people queue up to cast their votes for Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections phase 1 on Thursday, Bharatiya Janata Party candidate from Agra rural Baby Rani Maurya also reached the polling booth to participate in the polling.

Baby Rani Maurya also expressed confidence in the citizens that they will vote for BJP for good governance in the State.

"I am confident that the citizens will vote in favour of Bharatiya Janata Party for good governance in the State," the BJP leader toldat the polling booth in Agra.

Voting for the first phase of the Uttar Pradesh elections for 58 Assembly seats covering 11 districts of the state began today at 7 am. The voting will conclude at 6 pm today.

The first phase will cover the 'Jat-dominant belt' of the western part of the state.

The districts that are going to the polling today include Mathura, Muzaffarnagar, Meerut, Ghaziabad, Bulandshahar, Hapur, Shamli, Baghpat, Aligarh, Agra, and Gautam Buddha Nagar.

As many as 623 candidates are in the fray in the first phase of the assembly polls while nearly 2.27 crore voters will decide the fate of these candidates.

Nearly 50,000 paramilitary personnel from 412 companies of central paramilitary forces have been deployed at different locations to maintain law and order as the election campaign for the first phase of Assembly polls in western Uttar Pradesh ended on Tuesday evening.

The police have sealed the borders of the state and strict security drills are underway to maintain peace in 58 Assembly constituencies which will go to the polls today.

The 403-member Uttar Pradesh Assembly is scheduled to go to the polls in seven phases on February 10, 14, 20, 23, 27, March 3, and 7. The counting of votes will take place on March 10.

( With inputs from ANI )