59 pc polling in Uttar Pradesh 1st phase

Around 59 percent of the total 1.7 lakh voters cast their ballots in the first phase of polling in India's most populous and politically vital state Uttar Pradesh on Wednesday.

The polling was by and large peaceful and according to the Chief Electoral Officer till 5 pm when the polling ended the turnout was 58.81 percent.

Voters in 55 constituencies in 10 districts decided the fate of two ministers, 31 MLAs and 15 former ministers. There were 862 candidates in the fight.

Voting was slow in the morning due to rain and bad weather but it gained pace by the afternoon.

People started to come out and cast their ballots as weather started improving by the afternoon, reports said.

The polling was preceded by a high pitched campaign with Congress poster boy Rahul Gandhi and sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra hogging all the media limelight.

While Congress has staked its prestige to make its presence felt in a big way in this election and unseat Mayawati of the ruling Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), the latter also spared no opportunity to attack her rivals- ranging from Congress general secretary Gandhi to Samajwadi Party led by Mulayam Singh Yadav and his son Akhilesh Yadav.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) also campaigned hard with its leader from Madhya Pradesh Uma Bharati throwing her hat in the ring.

In the first phase, 10 districts went to the polls under tight security arrangements. They are Sitapur, Barabanki, Faizabad, Balrampur, Gonda, Ambedkar Nagar, Bahraich, Shravasti, Siddharth Nagar and Basti.

According to a poll monitor group National Election Watch, about 38 per cent candidates - which is a total of 109 contestants- in the first phase have criminal records.

UP is going to polls on Feb 8, Feb 11, Feb 15, Feb 19, Feb 23, Feb 28 and March 3.

Counting of votes is on March 6 along with all four other states that are going to elections.