NEW DELHI: Polling for phase 1 of the 7-phase election to Uttar Pradesh (UP) assembly constituencies began today morning at 7 am where the voters will cast their franchises for 58 assembly seats across 11 districts in the western part of the state.

The districts where the elections will be held are Shamli, Hapur, Gautam Buddh Nagar, Muzaffarnagar, Meerut, Baghpat, Ghaziabad, Bulandshahr, Aligarh, Mathura and Agra.

According to the election commission officials, around 2.28 core voters, including 1.24 crore men and 1.04 crore women are eligible to cast their votes till 6 pm today.

The campaigning in these constituencies going to vote in the first round ended on Tuesday evening which due to Covid related restrictions and ban on large rallies were to a large extent confined to virtual rallies and online campaigns.  

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led by UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah have put up a spirited campaign and focused on several contentious issues like security under the former government led by Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav, repeatedly attacking him for what they called was the 'goonda raj' in the state during his regime.

While Yogi Adityanath has raised the issue of alleged "exodus" of Hindus from Kairana before 2017, PM Modi has pitched for a 'double-engine' government for development.

The SP is leading a rainbow alliance with Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) and is focusing on development issues and injustice to farmers especially the Jat community of the state. 

The Congress Party campaign was led by party general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra who has undertaken door-to-door campaigns across the state and fielded a maximum number of women candidates under their 'Beti hu lad sakti hu' program. 

Surprisingly the other strong contender the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) led by former chief minister Mayawati has not put in as much effort as it was expected. She herself stayed away and started campaigning only very late and largely focused on the general issues like rising costs and unemployment.