Campaigning for the lone assembly by-election to Kairana seat in western UP ended on Monday evening where polling is scheduled on Wednesday. There is a straight contest between the BJP and SP candidates.
Though fate of eight candidates would be decided in the bypolls, prominent nominees are BJP’s Anil Kumar Chauhan, Congress nominee Arshad Khan and Samajwadi Party candidate Nahid Hasan. The campaigning was lacklustre with no prominent leaders of any political party came to address election meetings except for BJP state president laxmikant Bajpai. All the prominent candidates are local with Congress and
SP candidates were having family relations. Altogether 2,82,130 voters including 1,26,194 women are eligible to exercise their votes in the bypoll to be held at 275 polling booths. Counting of votes would be held on October 19.
A total of 12 companies of paramilitary force along with 1000 civil policemen will be deployed for the polling which will be held from 7am to 6pm. Authorities have set up 16 check-posts at the Haryana-Uttar Pradesh border for sealing to ensure smooth and fair conduct of elections, officials confirmed here on Monday evening. The checkposts have been established at Baghpat, Muzaffarnagar, Saharanpur and Shamli districts. Authorities also erected 48 check-posts on borders touching other districts like in Shamli, Saharanpur, Baghpat, Gautam Budhnagar, Mathura and Aligarh. All the check-posts started on Monday evening and will be in place till Wednesday night.
Security has been tightened along the border since assembly polls in Haryana will be conducted the same day. Kairana constituency is divided in 42 sectors and a magistrate and a police officer has been posted in each of them. The seat fell vacant after BJP member Hukum Singh was elected to the lok Sabha from Kairana parliamentary seat.