High profile campaigning for the first phase of polling in western Uttar Pradesh ended on Tuesday evening where 10 lok Sabha constituencies will go to the polls on April 10.
Fate of 146 candidates, including prominent like Union Civil Aviation Minister and RlD Candidate Ajit Singh and former Mumbai Police Commissioner Satyapal Singh of BJP (both from Baghpat), Bollywood stars Raj Babbar, former Army Chief V K Singh, Aaam Admi Party(AAP) leader Shazia Ilmi(all from Ghaziabad), Bollywood star Jaya Prada of RlD(Bijnore), Congress candidate Nagma(Meerut) and BJP UP legislature party leader Hukum Singh(Kairana)is at stake. Senior leaders of all parties left no stone unturned to ensure the win of their candidates and hold series of election meetings braving the hot weather conditions.
The leaders made all efforts to woo voters even by giving inflammatory and controversial statements.Political fever has touched its extreme in the region after FIRs were registered against BJP leader Amit Shah in Shamli and Bijnore districts over his reported controversial statement in a Jat meeting. The Election Commission has also given notice to the BJP leader. Earlier Congress candidate from Saharanpur Imran Masood was jailed for couple of days for his hate speech against BJP PM candidate Narendra Modi.
Numerous private choppers and chartered aircraft were hovering over the West UP ferrying the leaders to reach the area of their election meetings. Narendra Modi, had campaigned vigorously in the region along with other leaders of other political parties including Congress president Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul Gandhi, Samajwadi Party leaders Mulayam Singh Yadav and Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav and BSP supremo Mayawati. While other leaders have ended their campaign in the 10 constituencies going to the polls, Mulayam Singh Yadav and his son and Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav held rallies in Aligarh, Nagina and other places before the end of the deadline.
The first-phase election in UP will witness a keen contest for three Bollywood stars -- Jaya Prada of RlD will be contesting from Bijnor while Congress candidate Nagma is contesting from Meerut. Another Bollywood star Raj Babbar, a sitting Congress MP from Firozabad, has shifted to Ghaziabad this time. The main attraction in the first phase
would be witnessed at Ghaziabad seat where Raj Babbar of the Congress, former Army chief V K Singh of the BJP and Shazia Ilmi of the Aam Admi Party (AAP) will lock horns
along with low profile candidates of the BSP and the SP.
Incumbent sitting Ghaziabad MP and BJP president Rajnath Singh has shifted to lucknow this time. But the Congress has recieved a major setback when their candidate Ramesh Chandra Tomar from Gautambuddha Nagar seat left the party to join the BJP. Thus, Congress has no candidate in the seat though Tomar's name would be in the electronic voting machines. Another keen contest would be witnessed in Baghpat, where a direct fight between sitting RlD president Ajit Singh and former Mumbai police Commissioner and BJP candidate Satpal Singh is expected. The first phase of the election would also cover the sensitive Muzaffarnagar lok Sabha seat, where communal riots broke out last year in which 66 people were killed and more than 50,000 were rendered homeless. The seats going to polls in the first phase are; Saharanpur, Kairana, Muzaffarnagar, Bijnore, Meerut,
Baghpat, Ghaziabad, Gautambuddha Nagar, Bulandshahr(Reserved) and Aligarh.As many as 1.69 crore voters, including 76.25 lakh females, would be able to cast their ballots in the first phase at 16,788 polling booths in the 10 constituencies. Ghaziabad seat will have the highest numbers of voters of 22.63 lakh while the lowest number of voters of 14.63 lakh would be in Baghpat seat. Baghpat will also have lowest of 1,462 polling booths.
More than 200 companies of Central forces along with 120 companies of PAC and over one lakh state police would be deployed for free and fair polls. Around 15 per cent of the
16,788 polling booths in the first phase of polling has been identified as sensitive or hyper- sensitive due to communal violence occurred recently. Around 23 per cent of the 146
candidates in the first phase of lok Sabha elections in 10 seats of west UP are of criminal antecedents and have declared criminals cases against them. Interestingly 33 candidates have declared criminal cases against them in which 26 or 18 per cent have admitted cases of murder, attempt to murder, rape, kidnapping, dacoity and robbery against them. Around 45 per cent of the 146 candidates in the first phase polls scheduled are crorepatis.