Medhaj News: Voting began on a brisk note on Saturday in Uttar Pradesh bypolls for 11 assembly and one parliamentary seat.
Voter turnout till 3pm: Noida at 24%, Bijnor at 47.7%, Hamirpur at 41.7%, Mainpuri and Saharanpur at 45%, Bijnor at 47.7%, Thakurdwara at 54%, Rohania at 45.81% and Nighasan at 54%.
Uttar Pradesh overall has recorded 43.26% voter turnout till 3pm.
A total of 118 candidates are in the fray for 11 Assembly seats while 12, including Tej Pratap Singh Yadav, grandson of Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav's elder brother, are contesting for Mainpuri Lok Sabha seat.
While Gopal Tandon, son of senior BJP leader Lalji Tandon, Juhi Singh a Samajwadi Party Leader and Ramesh Srivastava are contesting from Lucknow East.
The Bhartiye Janta Party which won 71 out of 80 Lok Sabha seats in recent elections may have most stakes as it held all the 11 assembly seats with its ally Apna Dal.
It seems that it's majorly going to be a tussle between BJP and Samajwadi Party. For Samajwadi Party, this is an opportunity to make a comeback after the Party terribly lost in Lok Sabha elections where its numbers knocked down to 5 from 22.
Just the way Mainpuri will be a prestige issue for Samajwadi Part, which has fielded Tej Pratap Singh Yadav, grandnephew of Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav, Lucknow East will be a prestige for BJP which has fielded Gopal Tandon, son of senior party leader Lalji Tandon who had won Lucknow Lok Sabha seat in 2009. With their gennext leaders in fray both the parties are determined to win the seats.
Saharanpur Assembly seat which was hit by communal riots in August, the contest is mainly between Rajiv Gumber (BJP) and Sanjay Garg (Samajwadi) but Mukesh Kumar of the Congress is also in the reckoning.
Other than Mainpuri parliamentary seat and Saharanpur Assembly seat, Samajwadi Party is trying to give a close contest to BJP in Bijnore, Thakurdwara, Noida, Lucknow (East), Nighasan, Hamirpur, Charkhari, Sirathu, Balha and Rohaniya assembly segments.
In Nighasan, Hamirpur, Sirathu and Balha, the BJP and the Samajwadi Party are the dominant contestants where Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) is not contesting these bypolls.
The votes will be counted on September 16.
"Adequate number of security personnel, including those of the central forces, have been deployed in constituencies to ensure free and fair elections. A micro observer has also been deployed at all polling centers, who would be an official or employee of the central government," the state election office said.
Also drone cameras are installed at polling booths for smooth voting.
According to an exit poll conducted by Medhaj News, out of 11 UP seats that went to polls on 13th September, 2014, BJP is expected to win 5-7, and SP 4-6 seats. Congress has been pushed to the 3rd or the 4th place. Vacated by BJP cabinet minister Kalraj Misra, Lucknow East seat witnessed a keen contest between Gopal Tandon of BJP, and Juhi Singh of the SP. Gopal Tandon has the edge, but Juhu can spring up a surprise. Vacated by Annupriya Patel, the leader of Apna Dal, who contested and won from Mirzapur Lok Sabha seat in alliance with BJP, result of Rohanniya assembly, which falls under Varanasi LS seat represented by Narendra Modi, and where Krishna Patel, Annupriya's mother, is contesting as the joint BJP-Apna Dal candidate, is keenly awaited. Even if the BJP loses 2-4 seats, the results will be seen as a set-back for Modi and Amit Shah.