Voting for the biennial elections to 11 Uttar Pradesh legislative council seats, including six teachers and five graduate seats, started on Tuesday. Votes will be counted on December 3.
Officials said that in view of the Covid-19 pandemic, voters will be thermally scanned before they are allowed to vote.
The Election Commission has said that no more than 1,000 voters will be assigned to each voting booth. It has ensured the availability of PPE equipment, masks and face shields at all voting centers, where social distancing protocols would be in effect during voting hours.
Up to 1,269,817 voters for five graduate positions would vote at 1,808 voting centers. There are 206,335 voters eligible to vote for six teacher positions at 813 polling places.
A total of 199 candidates are in the fray.
Most of the candidates compete as independents, many of whom give sleepless nights to candidates from prominent political parties. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) expelled one of its leaders in western Uttar Pradesh for competing as an independent.
In Lucknow, an independent candidate promised support for the BJP at the last minute.
Elections for the 11 seats were due to take place this summer, but were postponed due to Covid-19.
In teacher constituencies, government teachers from the 10th class onward register as voters. For graduate positions, everyone who graduated three years prior to the voting date is a voter.
Eleven observers have been deployed to the polls along with 952 sector magistrates, 413 zone magistrates.
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