Voting for the second phase of the civic body elections in Uttar Pradesh was marred by reports of malfunctioning EVMs and names missing from the electoral rolls, Firstpost reported.
Polling in 25 districts saw a voter turnout of 52%, PTI reported. The second phase covers 189 civic bodies in Varanasi, Muzaffarnagar, Ghaziabad, Gautam Budhnagar, Amroha, Rampur, Pilibhit, Shahjahanpur, Aligarh, Mathura, Mainpuri , Farrukhabad, Etawah, Lalitpur, Banda, Allahabad, Lucknow, Sultanpur, Ambedkarnagar, Bahraich, Shrawasti, Sant Kabirnagar, Deoria, Ballia and Bhadohi. It includes six municipal corporations, 51 municipal councils and 132 nagar panchayats.
Allahabad recorded one of the lowest polling percentages, at 34.2%, the Hindustan Times. At Mathura, it was 46.88%; at Gautam Budh Nagar, 61.6%, and in Varanasi, it was 44%.
Earlier in the day, there were reports of electronic voting machines malfunctioning at a booth in Lucknow’s Sarojini Nagar, which disrupted polling, according to Firstpost.
Drones fitted with cameras were used in Mathura to monitor the elections, NDTV reported. In Mathura, 85 polling centres were selected for web casting.
The first phase of civic body elections, which covered 24 districts in Uttar Pradesh, was held on Wednesday and saw nearly 53% voting. Another phase of voting remains on November 29. The results will be declared on December 1.
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