Notification for LS polls' first phase in UP Saturday

Lucknow, March 15 (IANS) The battle for the first phase of Lok Sabha polls begins in Uttar Pradesh Saturday with the issuing of notification around noon.

In the first phase of polling, 10 seats mainly in western Uttar Pradesh go to polls.

Chief Electoral Officer Umesh Sinha said candidates can file nominations till March 22 after the notification is issued.

The scrutiny of the candidate's nomination papers will be done March 24 and the last date of withdrawal from the election race is March 26.

The first phase of polling in the state includes contest for seats of Saharanpur, Kairana, Aligarh, Bijnor, Meerut, Baghpat, Ghaziabad, Gautambudh Nagar and Bulandshahr.

Muzaffarnagar, which was singed by communal riots last year, also goes to polls in the first phase.

A total of 8,435 polling centres and 16,788 polling stations have been set up for the voting, officials told IANS.

A total of 1.69 crore voters will decide the fate of candidates from this region. Of these 93.6 lakh voters are men and 76.25 lakh women.

Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) chief Ajit Singh is contesting from Baghpat constituency, his traditional and incumbent seat while actor-turned politician Jaya Prada is also contesting on an RLD ticket from Bijnor.

Film star Naghma is contesting on a Congress ticket from Meerut.