Nearly 65 pc voting in western UP, up by 14 pc from 2009 polls

Nearly 65 pc voting in western UP, up by 14 pc from 2009 polls

Nearly 65 per cent voting was today

recorded in 10 Lok Sabha constituencies of western Uttar

Pradesh including riot-hit Muzaffarnagar, polling for which

passed off peacefully.

          The voting percentage saw a 14 per cent rise from 51.30

per cent in the 2009 Lok Sabha polls. It was 61.78 per cent in

the 2012 Assembly polls.

          As many as 68.27 per cent of the electorate including

hundreds of riots victims exercised there franchise in

Muzaffarnagar.

          More than 250 people,�who were displaced in last year's

communal riots in the district,�exercised their franchise�at

Khampur village where they are now living in a newly

constructed housing colony.

          They were displaced�from Lisad, Kutba Kutbi, Rathora and

Phugana villages following the riots in September last year

that left over 60 dead.

          Four gang-rape victims�also cast their votes and were

given full police protection, Muzaffarnagar District

Magistrate Kushal Raj Sharma said

            Uttar Pradesh Chief Electoral Officer Umesh Sinha said

the polling was peacefully with no major incident reported

from anywhere.

            "In these 10 constituencies spread over 11 districts of

western UP, polling percentage was 64.96," he said.

            He said Saharanpur registered maximum of 73.43 per cent

polling, while minimum of 57.10 per cent votes were polled in

Bulandshahr.

            Besides, 69.40 per cent voting was recorded in Kairana,

68.27 per cent in Muzaffarnagar, Bijnore 66.05 per cent,

Meerut 68.08 per cent, Baghpat 67.20 per cent, Ghaziabad 60

per cent, Gautam Buddha Nagar 62.67 per cent and Aligarh

61.60 per cent.

            The electoral fate of 146 candidates has been sealed in

the EVMs in the 10 Lok Sabha seats, where a total of 1.74

crore voters -- 95.96 lakh men and 78.37 lakh women -- were

eligible to exercise their franchise.

            Prominent candidates included RLD chief Ajit Singh from

Baghpat and actor-turned-politician Jaya Prada from Bijnor.

Film stars Nagma and Raj Babbar are in the fray on Congress

ticket from Meerut and Ghaziabad respectively.

            Besides them, AAP's Shazia Ilmi and BJP's VK Singh from

Ghaziabad, former Mumbai police commissioner Satyapal Singh

(BJP) from Baghpat, Muzaffarnagar riot accused Kadir Rana

(BSP) and Hukum Singh (BJP) from Kairana, and Sanjiv Baliyan

(BJP) from Muzaffarnagar are in the fray.