The 58 seats in western Uttar Pradesh which went to the polls in the first phase of voting on Thursday recorded an average turnout of 60.17%, a fall of more than 3% from the 2017 election.
The seats recorded 63.47% voting in the last election.
In the first phase of the 2022 election in 11 districts covering the industrial regions close to Delhi and the sugarcane and potato cultivation belts, the highest turnout was recorded in Kairana seat in Shamli. The BJP has run a high-pitched campaign on alleged exodus of Hindu families in Kairana and the Muzaffarnagar riots of 2013.
As per the Election Commission, Shamli recorded the highest average turnout of 69.42% while neighbouring Muzaffarnagar recorded 65.34%,Meerut 60.91%,Baghpat 61.35%,Ghaziabad 54.77%,Hapur 60.50%, Gautam Buddha Nagar56.73%,Bulandshahr 60.52%,Aligarh 60.49%,Mathura 63.28% andAgra 60.33%.
Voting percentage dropped by almost 6% in Hapur and more than 5% in Meerut, almost 4% in Bulandshahr and 3% in Aligarh and Baghpat. With 56.73% voting, the figure in Gautam Buddha Nagar was marginally lower than 2017.
The ruling BJP faces a challenge from the SP-RLD alliance in the first two phases. The election in this region is also a test of the farmers’ protest.
In 2017, the BJP alliance had secured a massive majority winning 325 of the 403 seats
