1st phase of Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections: Voting begins for 73 seats

Lucknow: Voting began on Saturday morning in the first of the staggered seven-phase Assembly elections in crucial Uttar Pradesh, India’s most populous state.

Nearly 2.6 crore people in 73 constituencies of western Uttar Pradesh are eligible to vote in the high-stake Assembly elections, seen as a litmus test for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s nearly three-year rule.

839 candidates, including from main contenders BJP, BSP, allies Congress and Samajwadi party, RLD as well independents, are in the fray from the seats in 15 districts where 26,823 polling stations have been set up.