UP panchayat elections 2021 live updates: 59.73 per cent polling till 5pm in Kanpur

Block Development Council (BDC) candidate Rakesh Babu (60) from UP's Mainpuri was allegedly stabbed to death with a knife in Lalpur village ahead of panchayat elections scheduled in the district on April 19. Read full story

35 per cent polling was recorded till 1pm in 18 districts of the state.

A candidate for the village head panchayat polls was shot at by a rival in Mahuadabar village under Khajni police circle. The victim, a former village head, was contesting the elections and his rival was the outgoing village head, who is again contesting the elections. The victim Gilgil Dubey has been admitted to a hospital in critical condition while the accused Shambhu Yadav has been detained for questioning. Gilgil's brother Bholendra told reporters that his brother was returning home, late on Wednesday night, when he was shot at. Polling is being held in Gorakhpur in the first phase of panchayat elections. (IANS)

The Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) has issued a statement asking people to choose any candidate, other than those from the BJP in the Panchayat elections that begin on Thursday. A statement issued by the BKU general secretary read, "Samyukt Kisan Morcha (united farmers front) is fighting against the anti-farmer policies of the Central government. We are going to the states where Assembly polls are being held and asking people not to vote for the BJP. Regarding the Panchayat elections in UP, we would like to state that BKU is a non-political organisation. We do not indulge in politics and do not appeal to people to vote for any party. We want people to vote for anyone except BJP-supported candidates." (IANS)

Elections would be conducted as per guidelines and protocols set by the state election commission,” he said. The guidelines envisage meticulous sanitisation of 80,762 polling booths and it will be mandatory for poll officials to wear face masks and download Aarogya Setu application in their mobiles. Consumption of tobacco and spitting at public places will invite penal action. Polling officials, with help of police, home guards and gram chowkidars, will ensure voters follow social distancing norms while queuing up to exercise their franchise. Polling officials may, however, ask voters to remove masks in case of suspicion. All entry points to polling centres will have thermal scanners. In case body temperature of voters are found to be beyond the standard set by the health department, they would be given a token and asked to come in the final hour of polling.

Former state election commissioner, Satish Kumar Agarwal said that panchayat elections have been deferred in the past in normal times. Therefore, in these extarordinary times, there was no reason to hold them in the middle of the pandemic. “The entire machinery involved in combating the pandemic will be totally preoccupied with their constitutional responsibility of holding free and fair elections,” he said.