Uttar Pradesh Assembly Elections 2017: 8 interesting facts

Noida: Amid tight security, polling began on Saturday morning for the first of the seven phases of the high-stake Uttar Pradesh Assembly Elections with voters queuing up to cast their ballots in 73 constituencies spread over 15 districts of western UP.

Prominent seats which have attracted attention, include Noida from where Pankaj Singh, son of Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh is contesting; Mathura where senior Congress leader Pradip Mathur is locked in a direct battle with Shrikant Sharma, the national spokesman of the BJP and Sardhana where BJP's Sangeet Som is challenged by SP's Atul Pradhan.

In Meerut city, former state BJP president and sitting MLA Laxmikant Bajpayi is being challenged in a triangular contest by SP-Congress combine's Rafiq Ansari and BSP's Pankaj Jolly. 

Kairana, Thana Bhawan, and Sikandarabad are other high-profile seats.

Here are the eight interesting facts as regards the elections today:

1. In the first of the seven-phased staggered elections in Uttar Pradesh, a total of 839 candidates are in the fray.
2. This was for the first time in the electoral history of the region that former chief minister Mulayam Singh Yadav, now a mere 'mentor' for the Samajwadi Party, did not campaign. So also Congress president Sonia Gandhi, who did not turn up due to ill-health.
3. The maximum number of candidates are in Agra South where 26 are trying their luck to be part of the 17th state Assembly.
4. The least number of candidates - six each - are from Hastinapur, Iglas and Loni seats.
5. There are 2.59 crore voters who are exercising there franchise on Saturday of which 1.42 crore are men, 1.17 crore women and 1,511 from the third gender.
6. Etah's Jalesar is the smallest constituency in terms of electorate, and Ghaziabad's Sahibabad is the largest.
7. In the 2012 Assembly polls, of the 73 seats -- SP had won 24 seats, Bahujan Samaj Party 23, Bharatiya Janata Party 12, Rashtriya Lok Dal 9 and Congress 5 seats.
8. In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP had won all the 12 seats here and many veterans like Ajit Singh were drowned in the saffron surge.