Lucknow: Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Friday alleged that BJP workers and their associates were attempting to capture a polling booth in Fatehpur during the ongoing Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council elections.
In a post on X around noon, Yadav questioned the Election Commission over the alleged booth-capturing and sought registration of FIRs against officials found involved in electoral irregularities.
"It seems the Election Commission has been given sleeping pills, and BJP workers and their associates have come to capture a booth in Fatehpur during the MLC elections," Yadav said in the post in Hindi.
"Is today a holiday for the Election Commission?" he said, charging that he would not appeal to the poll panel in this regard as "appeals are made to those from whom there is some hope".
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Terming the alleged booth-capturing "highly condemnable", Yadav said his party workers are recording videos of similar incidents across the state and would produce them before the authorities and seek registration of FIRs against officials allegedly involved in irregularities in the electoral process.
The SP chief also shared a video clip purportedly showing a verbal altercation between people identified as Samajwadi Party and BJP workers in Fatehpur. The allegations could not be independently verified.
Polling for 11 Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council seats, comprising five graduate and six teachers' constituencies, began at 8 am on Friday, and will continue until 4 pm.
According to official data, voter turnout stood at 24.09 per cent till noon. The Bareilly-Moradabad teachers' constituency recorded the highest turnout at 38.16 per cent, followed by Gorakhpur-Faizabad at 36.07 per cent. The Allahabad-Jhansi graduate constituency recorded the lowest turnout at 13.35 per cent.
The constituencies span all 75 districts of the state, but only registered graduates and teachers are eligible to vote. Ballot papers, rather than electronic voting machines, are being used in the elections.
The five graduate constituencies are Lucknow, Varanasi, Agra, Meerut and Allahabad-Jhansi, while the six teachers' constituencies are Lucknow, Agra, Varanasi, Meerut, Bareilly-Moradabad and Gorakhpur-Faizabad.
The MLC elections, being held ahead of the 2027 Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls, are being viewed as a prestige battle between the ruling BJP and the opposition Samajwadi Party. Campaigning for the polls ended Thursday evening.