The polling for the Lucknow nagar Nigam was spoiled by the incomplete and faulty electoral rolls and large number of voters including some VIPs and ministers were disappointed and had to go back from the polling booth. Lucknow will elect a women mayor for the first time in 100 years.
The prominent VIPs who could not cast their vote as their name was missing from the electoral rolls are the former union minister and BJP MP from Deoria Kalraj Mishra, BJP MLA from Lucknow cantonment and the cabinet minister Rita Bahuguna Joshi and also the director general of police Sulkhan Singh.
The district magistrate of Unnao had suspended the booth level officers as the name of BJP MP from Unnao Shakshi Maharaj and former Unnao MP Annu Tandon were found missing from the rolls during the first phase of polling on November 22. The district magistrate of Lucknow has so far not announced action against the official concerned for the lapses in the electoral rolls.
The Lucknow MP and Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh cast his vote in Lucknow. Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati stayed away from voting. Former mayor of Lucknow and the deputy chief minister Dinesh Sharma voted in Lucknow. The minister of state for Haj and minority affairs Mohsin Raza was among the first to cast his vote in Lucknow. The deputy Chief Ministers Keshav Prasad Maurya exercised his franchise in Allahabad,
The residents of officer’s hostel on Mirabai marg and many new residential apartments on Rana Pratap marg were missing from the rolls. At several places in Lucknow, the missing names in voters list sparked protests at several booths. At a booth in Luck now’s Lal Kuan area, two contestants engaged in a fist fight after arguments over missing names and fraudulent voting. Also, in Lucknow, BJP supporters thrashed some people inside a booth in Vikasnagar area when the EVM machine malfunctioned. The ward candidate of BJP, however, fled from the scene after the arrival of police.
Following reports of names of voters missing from the electoral rolls ,former UP chief minister Akhilesh Yadav tweeted: ''Media reports that a lot of voters’ names are missing from the voting list of today’s election. This type of digital India cannot take us forward.''
In Lucknow along with the polling for Luck now nagar nigam, the polling was also held in eight nagar panchyats—Itaunja, Kakori, Mahona, Nagram, Gosianganj, Amethi, Malihabad and Bakshi Ka Talab. Highest 58.5 percent polling was recorded in Mahona while in rest of the seven towns the polling was 33 to 46 percent.
In the first phase polling held on November 22, the polling percentage was 52.58 per cent in 24 districts. The last phase of polling would be held in 26 districts on November 29 and the counting of votes to be taken up on December 1.
In the second phase stakes are high for both the BJP and the Samajwadi party. Polling for the post of mayor was held on Sunday in Varanasi, the Lok Sabha constituency of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi , Union home minister Rajnath Singh's constituency Lucknow and union minister V K Singh's Ghaziabad constituency along with Sangam city of Allahabad, and Mathura-Vrindavan, which will have a mayor for the first time.