In Uttar Pradesh, voting is underway Thursday for the first phase of urban local body elections. According to the State Election Commission (SEC), electorates of 37 districts will vote in the first phase of the polls to elect 7,593 representatives, including 10 mayors and 820 corporators. Voting is being held in 9 divisions and 10 municipal corporations of 37 districts. In 10 municipal corporations, voting is held in 830 wards, 9,699 polling places and 2,658 polling stations have been set up in Municipal Corporations. The voting commenced at 7 am and will continue till 6 pm. These elections will pose a key test for the political parties in Uttar Pradesh ahead of the Lok Sabha elections next year. More than 2 crore 40 lakh people are eligible to exercise their franchise in the first phase of Uttar Pradesh municipal election 2023, officials said. In the first phase, polling will be held for 103 posts of nagar palika parishad chairperson and 2,740 nagar palika parishad members. Besides, the voters will decide the fate of 275 candidates vying for the posts of nagar panchayat chairperson and 3,645 nagar panchayat members. UP municipal polls: Candidates in fray in first phase A total of 44,232 candidates are in the fray in the first phase of Uttar Pradesh urban local body elections 2023. UP districts where municipal polls 2023 are being held The districts where mayoral election will be held in the first phase are: 1- Saharanpur 2- Shamli 3- Muzaffarnagar 4- Bijnor 5- Amroha 6- Moradabad 7- Rampur 8- Sambhal 9- Agra 10- Firozabad 11- Mathura 12- Mainpuri 13- Jhansi 14- Jalaun 15- Lalitpur 16- Kaushambi 17- Prayagraj 18- Fatehpur 19- Pratapgarh 20- Unnao 21- Hardoi 22- Lucknow 23- Rae Bareli 24- Sitapur 25- Lakhimpur Kheri 26- Gonda 27- Bahraich 28- Balrampur 29- Shravasti 30- Gorakhpur 31- Deoria 32- Maharajganj 33- Kushinagar 34- Ghazipur 35- Varanasi 36- Chandauli 37- Jaunpur Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has cast his vote in Lucknow.
#WATCH | Lucknow, UP: I appeal to all the voters of Lucknow to cast their votes for the UP Municipal Elections 2023: Raksha Mantri Rajnath Singh after casting vote for UP Municipal Elections 2023 pic.twitter.com/qnZnasLQW7
— ANI UP/Uttarakhand (@ANINewsUP) May 4, 2023
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath cast his vote in Gorakhpur.
#WATCH | UP Municipal Corporation elections: CM Yogi Adityanath casts his vote pic.twitter.com/AGbLVj2wVs
— ANI UP/Uttarakhand (@ANINewsUP) May 4, 2023
Deputy Chief Ministers Keshav Prasad Maurya and Brajesh Pathak will cast their votes in Prayagraj and Lucknow, respectively. Former deputy chief minister Dinesh Sharma will also cast his vote in Lucknow. Security heightened in UP for municipal polls 2023 As per the Uttar Pradesh police, 19,880 inspectors and sub-inspectors, 1,01,477 head constables and constables, 47,985 home guards, 86 companies of Pradeshik Armed Constabulary, 35 companies of Central Armed Police Forces, and 7,500 under-training sub-inspectors have been deployed for the smooth conduct of municipal elections. When is second phase of UP municipal elections 2023? Voting for the second and last phase of Uttar Pradesh urban body elections will be held on 11 May. Counting of votes for both the phases will take place on 13 May. With inputs from agencies Read all the Latest News , Trending News , Cricket News , Bollywood News , India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.