UP Panchayat Election Live Updates: Over three crore voters will exercise their franchise in the first phase of the Uttar Pradesh panchayat elections on Thursday to be held across 18 districts in 51,176 polling booths. According to numbers shared by the Elections Commission, 3,16,46,162 voters will vote for the post of Zila Panchayat, BDC, Gram Pradhan and Gram Panchayat members.
As India faces a massive coronavirus wave, there had been calls for cancelling the elections. Several BJP MLAs and MPs, including Kaushal Kishor, appealed to the Election Commission to postpone the Uttar Pradesh panchayat elections saying it could become a “super spreader” event.
On Wednesday, 20,510 fresh Covid-19 cases were reported in the Uttar Pradesh with 68 deaths. So far 6,22,810 patients have been cured and discharged while at the moment there are 1,11,835 active cases in the state. The state capital Lucknow remains the worst hit with 5,433 fresh cases and 14 deaths. Chief minister Yogi Adityanath went into self-isolation on Wednesday after testing positive for Covid-19. Samajwadi Party chief and former CM of the state Akhilesh Yadav also tested positive for Covid-19 on Wednesday.