Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) [India], November 20 : A voter turnout of 20.5 per cent has been recorded till 11 am in the bye-elections of Uttar Pradesh, said the Chief Election Officer of Uttar Pradesh, Navdeep Rinva on Wednesday.
He added that among all nine constituencies, the Kundarki assembly constituency recorded the highest turnout of 28.5 per cent while the turnout was lowest for the Ghaziabad constituency, at 13 per cent.
Rinva also said that the electoral process is conducted peacefully in the state, however, a report of stone pelting was registered in Muzaffarnagar, but the police team immediately reached the spot and controlled the situation.
Speaking to ANI, Rinva said, "20.5% voting has taken place in 9 assemblies of Uttar Pradesh. The highest has been recorded in Kundarki assembly with 28.5%, the lowest in Ghaziabad assembly with 13% but the rest of the assemblies have figures in between. Voting is going on smoothly everywhere. In the morning, wherever there was a report of machines malfunctioning, they were promptly replaced. At one place in Muzaffarnagar, there was a report of stone pelting, DM and SSP went to the spot, the incident took place around 10 am. There too, peaceful voting is going on."
"We have around 8 polling stations in Kakrauli, their average voting is also around 20-21%, which is the average voting of our state. We are keeping an eye on it. Whatever complaints come through email, phone, we respond to them immediately, talk to the officials of the concerned district and get a report..." he said.
Earlier, a clash broke out between two parties during the Meerapur assembly by-polls in Uttar Pradesh's Muzaffarnagar district, police said on Wednesday.
As per the police, the clash broke out near the village Kakaroli under police station Kakaroli.
Muzaffarnagar Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), Abhishek Singh said that peace has been restored and voting is proceeding in a free and fair manner.
"During the Meerapur assembly by-election, there was a clash between two parties near village Kakaroli of police station area Kakaroli. Police reached the spot immediately and removed everyone using force. Peace is maintained at the spot and voting is going on in a free and fair manner," the SSP said.
Samajwadi Party, on its official social media handle X, alleged that the police are "misbehaving" with voters in the Meerapur constituency.
"They are being stopped from casting their votes, voting is getting affected. Police is misbehaving with voters and using lathis on women at booth number 318 of Mirapur assembly constituency in Muzaffarnagar. Election Commission should take cognizance and ensure fair voting," the SP said on X.
Notably, bye-elections are being conducted on nine assembly seats of Uttar Pradesh, namely - Meerapur, Kundarki, Ghaziabad, Khair, Karhal, Sishamau, Phulpur, Katehari, and Majhawan. The results for all the seats will be announced on November 23.