Samajwadi Party (SP) candidate Harendra Singh Malik alleged booth capturing in a village in Muzaffarnagar district and urged the EC to deploy paramilitary personnel there.

The former Rajya Sabha MP shared a letter on social media that he addressed to the Chief Election Commissioner demanding that paramilitary personnel be sent to Kutba Kutbi, the village of BJP candidate Sanjeev Balyan, alleging “booth capturing” by “agents” of the saffron party.

“In Kutba Kutbi village of BJP candidate Sanjeev Balyan, booth capturing is being done by BJP agents and voters are being beaten up and sent away without casting their votes,” Malik wrote in Hindi.

District Election Officer Aravind Mallappa Bangari, however, denied the allegation.

A total of 80 candidates, including seven women, are in the fray from the eight seats in the first phase. The prominent candidates in this phase of polling include the BJP’s Jitin Prasada from Pilibhit, Union Minister Sanjeev Balyan from Muzaffarnagar and Azad Samaj Party chief Chandra Shekhar Azad from Nagina.

At a press conference, state Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Navdeep Rinwa said arrangements for webcasting were made at 7,582 polling stations for an effective supervision. Also, videography was arranged at 1510 polling stations while postal ballot was cast by 14,264 voters (those aged above 85, disabled, into essential services, and polling personnel), he added.

In Pilibhit district, residents of some villages announced a poll boycott as a protest against the lack of civic amenities. The residents of Purana village said they will not vote in protest against the absence of a bridge in the area. Residents of Dahgala, Bakshpur and nearby villages boycotted the polling as the road leading to the area through the officers’ colony was allegedly blocked.

People inside a polling station at Kutba Kutbi village in Muzaffarnagar district; (Image source: Reuters)

In Neuria area of the district, some villagers said they would not vote as they were aggrieved over the issue of man-animal conflicts. They alleged that tigers from the adjoining Pilibhit Tiger Reserve (PTR) venture out of the forest and kill villagers but nothing has been done by the administration to prevent such incidents.

Pilibhit District Magistrate Sanjay Kumar Singh said, “We received information that some villagers are boycotting the polls over local issues. The officials concerned visited these villages and spoke to them.” Following assurances from the local administration, the villagers visited the polling stations to vote.

Farmer leader and national president of Bhartiya Kisan Union (BKU) Naresh Tikait hit out at the BJP over its claim of winning more than 400 seats in the Lok Sabha elections and said, “People are not very excited about the polls.” “If they (BJP) are saying 400, then what is the need for them to contest elections? It is special that they can perceive this in advance. Do they have any astrologer who has predicted that this is going to happen?” Tikait told PTI.

BKU spokesperson Rakesh Tikait cast his vote in Muzaffarnagar. He told PTI, “People should exercise their voting rights given to us by the Constitution. You are staging demonstrations and feel sad.”

Senior BJP leader Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, who cast his vote in Rampur, said, “We have to take forward the journey of PM Narendra Modi in taking the country towards development.”

—With PTI inputs