Uttar Pradesh Elections 2017 Live: Polling Closes For The State's Polls' First Phase

The first phase of Uttar Pradesh assembly elections took place today in the key constituencies of Mathura, Meerut, Ghaziabad and Noida, among others. The first-phase election in India's largest state is an intense, high-octane three way contest between the BJP, the Bahujan Samaj Party and the Samajwadi Party-Congress alliance. While the SP hopes to retain power - albeit with the Congress this time, the BJP and BSP hope to regain power in the state after 13 and five years, respectively.

The BJP won 71 of the 80 Lok Sabha seats in the 2014 Union elections, decimating the Congress, SP and BSP - which were reduced to five, two and zero seats in the Lok Sabha elections. The election in Uttar Pradesh - along with those in Punjab, Goa, Manipur and Uttarakhand - is considered to be a referendum on PM Modi's demonetisation drive. In his campaigns across Uttar Pradesh, PM Modi urged voters to root out 'SCAM' - an acronym for Samajwadi Party, Congress, Akhilesh Yadav and Mayawati.

Ms Mayawati is expected to be a five-time Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, should the BSP win. Her party was the worst sufferer in the state in the 2014 Union elections as it failed to register a single seat. This time, the party has fielded a record number of candidates belonging to the Muslim community, considered to be a key vote bank for the Samajwadi Party and the Congress.

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The poll is also a crucial test for the new national president of Samajwadi Party, Akhilesh Yadav, who gained control of the party after a bitter feud with his father Mulayam Singh Yadav and uncle Shivpal Yadav. The Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister has forged an alliance with the Congress and lately, Rahul Gandhi and Mr Yadav have been jointly campaigning all over Uttar Pradesh. The Congress will contest 24 seats whereas the Samajwadi Party has given tickets to 51 contestants in the first-phase.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is an incumbent Lok Sabha member from Varanasi whereas Congress' top leaders Sonia and Rahul Gandhi are parliamentarians from Raebareli and Amethi, respectively.

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Here are the live updates for the Uttar Pradesh elections 2017:

7:45 pm IST: About 51 per cent votes were polled in Noida Assembly constituency, from where Home Minister Rajnath Singh's son Pankaj Singh is contesting, in the first of the seven-phase Uttar Pradesh polls.

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7: 25 pm IST: Updated voter turnout in UP first phase polls: 64.2 per cent.

7:15 pm IST: There were 13 cases of paid news, out of which 10 has been confirmed in first phase of UP elections, says Election Commission

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7:05 pm IST: Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh today chose to ask for votes for a Lok Dal candidate in adjoining seat at his brother Shivpal Singh Yadav's constituency, Jaswantnagar in Etawah
 

7:00 pm IST: Election Commission on UP elections' first phase:

• 2,96,906 troublemakers were identified and preventive actions were taken against them in first phase of UP elections.
• 3888 digital and video cameras were used, webcasting was done in 2857 places for first phase of UP elections

6:20 pm IST: 63 per cent voter turnout (provisional) recorded in the first phase of elections in Uttar Pradesh. This is two per cent more than 61 per cent last elections.

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5:00 pm IST: Polling closes for the first phase of elections

3:20 pm IST: 52.9% of the electorates have cast their vote in the first phase of assembly elections till 3 PM. In 2012, 61.2% of the electorates had exercised their franchise.

2:35 pm IST: A total of 2.60 crore voters, including over 1.17 crore women and 1,508 belonging to third gender category are eligible to cast their ballot to decide the fate of 839 candidates.

2:15 pm IST: A total of 121 candidates are in the fray in Agra.

1:41 pm IST: 39.4% of the votes have been polled till 1 PM.

12:55 pm IST: Around 30 per cent votes were today polled till noon in 73 Assembly constituencies, news agency PTI said.

12:10 pm IST: 28 per cent of the electorate have their cast their votes in Agra

11:29am IST: Union Minister Sanjeev Balyan cast his vote in Muzaffarnagar

11:17 am IST: Technical snags in the electronic voting machines (EVMs) were reported in the first hour in polling booths across Noida, Baghpat, Hathras and Mathura.

11:09am IST: Kasganj witnessed 13 per cent polling in the first two hours, Muzaffarnagar 15, Meerut 10, Mathura 11, Noida seven and Greater Noida nine per cent.

10:55 am IST: Gagan Som, brother of BJP leader Sangeet Som was detained on Saturday for carrying pistol inside a polling booth.

10:20 am IST: Voters in Baraut given roses by EC officials
9:41 am IST: 15% voting in Muzaffarnagar till 9 am.

9:30am IST: Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh's son Pankaj Singh is making his debut in the polls. He is the Bharatiya Janata Party candidate from Noida.

9:20am IST: Very few voters turned out in the first hour of voting in Noida. Over two crore voters are exercising their voting rights for 73 seats spread across 15 districts.

8:30am IST: Etah's Jalesar is the smallest constituency in terms of electorate 

8:10 am IST: BJP candidate from Mathura Shrikant Sharma casts his vote at a polling station in Govardhan.
 
7:59 am IST: The maximum number of candidates (26) are contesting from Agra south. The least number of candidates - six each - are from Hastinapur, Iglas and Loni seats.

7:30am IST: A total of 839 candidates are in the fray. Police officials said adequate security arrangements have been made for the keenly-fought contest.

7:15 am IST: Voters lining outside a polling booth in western Uttar Pradesh.
7:10 am IST: Voting begins in 73 constituencies across 15 districts in the first phase of the Uttar Pradesh elections.