Photo: ANI Voting for the second phase of the Uttar Pradesh Panchayat elections is underway with Covid-19 protocols in place. The polls are being held for the posts of members of zila panchayats, and kshetra panchayats. Over 30 million voters will decide the fate of the candidates in 20 districts of the state. Voting started from 7 am and will end at 6 pm . The second phase assumes significance as state capital Lucknow and Varanasi will go to polls in this round. Apart from Lucknow and Varanasi, polling will be held in Amroha, Azamgarh, Etawah, Etah, Kannauj, Gonda, Gautam Buddh Nagar, Chitrakoot, Pratapgarh, Budaun, Baghpat, Bijnor, Muzaffarnagar, Mainpuri, Maharajganj, Lakhimpur Kheri, Lalitpur and Sultanpur districts.
Voting for the first of the four-phase Uttar Pradesh panchayat elections, seen as a semi-final to the 2022 Assembly election, will be held today in 18 districts with ballot papers. More than 333,000 candidates in the fray in over 221,000 seats in the first phase for the posts of zila panchayat (district council) members, kshetra (block) panchayat members, village panchayat heads and wards. Polling will take place from 7 am to 6 pm. The districts that will go to polls are Ayodhya, Agra, Kanpur, Ghaziabad, Gorakhpur, Jaunpur, Jhansi, Allahabad, Bareilly, Bhadohi, Mahoba, Rampur, Raebareli, Shravasti, Sant Kabir Nagar, Saharanpur, Hardoi and Hathras. Apart from parties like the BJP, BSP, Samajwadi Party and the Congress, among those in the race are the AIMIM, Aam Aadmi Party and Bhim Army chief Chandra Shekhar Aazad s Azad Samaj Party, which are making their debut in the state.
BJP President Jagat Prakash Nadda addressing Alleging that the Mamata Banerjee dispensation has not done anything for the welfare of farmers and Adivasis in West Bengal, BJP president J P Nadda on Tuesday claimed that after practising politics of appeasement for years, the TMC supremo has started reciting Sanskrit slokas to assert her Hindu identity. Slamming the Mamata Banerjee government over alleged slide in the law and order situation, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said on Tuesday the khela (game) that will be played in West Bengal after the BJP s victory in the assembly election will be that of development and peace. He asserted the BJP will form its government in the state winning more than 200 of the 294 seats.
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