KAIRANA, India (Reuters) - More than 13 million Indians voted in the first stage of state assembly elections on Saturday, the biggest electoral test for Prime Minister Narendra Modi since coming to power in 2014.

People queue to cast their vote during the state assembly election, in the village of Kairana, in the state of Uttar Pradesh, India, February 11, 2017. REUTERS/Cathal McNaughton

The world’s biggest election this year began in Uttar Pradesh, the first of six stages that will elect an assembly to govern the impoverished state of nearly 220 million people.

Modi’s nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) swept to victory in Uttar Pradesh three years ago, and the election in the state that follows the shore of the river Ganges will set the tone for the 2019 national elections.

More broadly, voters will deliver a mid-term verdict on Modi and his nationalist party after his decision to withdraw 86 percent of the cash in circulation.

The banknote ban was launched by Modi three months ago to purge the economy of untaxed income and the proceeds of crime and corruption, and has disrupted daily life and commerce, and caused the economy to slow.

On the campaign trail, Modi has said he had the interests of the poor at heart in making the move - his biggest gamble yet.

“The results will tell us whether Modi continues to enjoy unquestioned support or if it has started to erode,” said R.K. Mishra, an independent political analyst based in the state capital, Lucknow.

Amid tight security, voting was conducted in 73 constituencies of western Uttar Pradesh, where violence has erupted frequently over the last few years. Fighting between Hindus and Muslims killed about 65 people in 2013.

In the town of Kairana, where residents came to blows last year when the local BJP MP accused Muslims of driving out Hindus, voters from both communities turned out in large numbers.

By noon, nearly half of those eligible had cast their vote.

GODZILLA OF STATES

The BJP polled 42 percent of the vote in Uttar Pradesh in the 2014 election, winning 71 of 80 seats on its way to claiming India’s biggest national mandate for three decades.

But people have shown growing impatience that Modi’s campaign promises of development and “better days” to come have failed to deliver new jobs in a state where per capita income averages less than $750 a year and many communities lack access to power, clean water and basic medical services.

“It is the Godzilla of states,” said BJP national spokesman Nalin Kohli, as he looked out over the darkened streets of Lucknow one evening this week.

People tend to vote along traditional caste and religious lines, and successive governments have exploited communal divisions to fire up their power base and poach voters.

“The situation gets very bad here sometimes – there is fighting between groups, between Hindus and Muslims,” said Bhagwati Prasad, who sells material for Hindu cremation ceremonies outside a temple in Lucknow.

“I am a Hindu. If there is a Hindu-Muslim fight I have to stand with the Hindus.”

The complexity of such politics makes it hard to predict outcomes in India’s first-past-the-post system. Any party scoring significantly more than 30 percent can win by a landslide.

Pollsters say it will be tough for the BJP to repeat its 2014 election performance.

In not fielding a for the post of chief minister, it risks repeating a tactical blunder that contributed to a heavy defeat in Bihar, another Hindi-speaking heartland state, in 2015.

The Samajwadi Party, which runs Bihar and is led by 43-year-old Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, won a majority in the last state election, in 2012, with just 29 percent of the vote.

Yadav has formed an alliance with Rahul Gandhi of the Congress party that, polls show, will be tough to beat.

Slideshow (15 Images)

Ranking third, Mayawati, who ran the state from 2007 to 2012 and whose Bahujan Samaj Party draws its support from communities on the bottom rung of India’s ancient caste hierarchy.

She has fielded a big crop of candidates from the Muslim minority that makes up 19 percent of the state’s electorate. Polls show most Muslims siding with the ruling Samajwadi Party-Congress alliance, however.

Results from Uttar Pradesh, along with Punjab, Goa, Uttarakhand and Manipur, are due on March 11.</s>Uttar Pradesh Election 2017: A total 836 candidates are contesting the first phase of the polls.</s>elections/uttar pradesh/ first phase/ First phase of Uttar Pradesh assembly elections to begin tomorrow

Uttar Pradesh: The much awaited battle for Chief Ministerial seat in Uttar Pradesh is set to kick-start tomorrow, with polling in the first phase. The first phase of voting is set to cover 73 constituencies and 15 districts.

In the phase 1 of elections, the major battle is between 839 candidates from Bhartiya Janta Party, Bahujan Samaj Party, allies Congress and Samajwadi Party and Rashtriya Lok Dal.

It is estimated, that around 2.6 crore people would cast their votes tomorrow, out of which over one crore are women, which is a considered as a big number.

Special arrangements have been made with deployment of paramilitary forces in areas like Muzaffarnagar, which hold a violent history. Also, CCTV cameras have been placed in around 600 important polling centres, to ensure the polling takes place without disruption and in a fair and smooth manner.

Among the 73 constituencies among which are some very important one’s like Shamli, Muzaffarnagar and Baghpath which will go to poll, the largest one is Sahibabad.

The Uttar Pradesh election is set to be a litmus test for major parties, especially Prime Minister Narendra Modi who swept the state in terms of seats during the general elections.

The polls would also be a test for Mayawati, who has left no stone unturned to get the Muslim dominated areas in her support.

The polls would also be a report card for the freshly made Congress- SP alliances and of its young leaders Akhilesh Yadav and Rahul Gandhi who have together tried to woo the voters via tall promises and road shows.

In the first phase, the prominent seats which have attracted attention, include Noida from where Pankaj Singh, son of Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh is contesting; Mathura where senior Congress leader Pradip Mathur is locked in a direct battle with Shrikant Sharma, the national spokesman of the BJP and Sardhana where BJP’s Sangeet Som is challenged by SP’s Atul Pradhan.

Kairana, Thana Bhawan and Sikandarabad are other high-profile seats.

Here are six heavyweight candidates to watch out for in the first phase of UP elections:
• Pankaj Singh (BJP): In Noida, BJP’s Pankaj Singh, son of union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, locked in a triangular contest with candidates of the Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party. The election is vital for Pankaj Singh, 38, as he is making his debut in an assembly poll.
• Sangeet Som (BJP): Eyes will also be on the Sardhana seat in Meerut here BJP has yet again put faith in Muzaffarnagar riot accused MLA Sangeet Singh Som. Som has been challenged by UP CM Akhilesh Yadav’s confidant SP Candidate Atul Chauhan and BSP’s Hafiz Yakoob.
• Suresh Rana (BJP): Controversial BJP MLA and Muzaffarnagar riots accused Suresh Rana will be contesting from Thana Bhuwan seat. SP fielded Lucknow University Professor Sudhir Pawar against Rana while BSP opted for a Muslim face Abdul Waris Khan from this seat. Rana was recently booked for hate speech over his remarks that curfew will be imposed in Kairana if he is elected again.
• Pradeep Mathur (Congress), Srikant Sharma (BJP): Another high profile contest will be on the Mathura seat where Incumbent Congress MLA, Pradeep Mathur, has been challenged by BJP national spokesperson Srikant Sharma. Mathur has been winning the Mathura seat for past three terms.
• Laxmikant Bajpai (BJP): Former state BJP president and sitting MLA Laxmikant Bajpai is also trying his luck from Meerut city seat to make a hat trick. Bajpayi is being challenged in a triangular contest by SP-Congress combine’s Rafiq Ansari and BSP’s Pankaj Jolly.
• Rahul Yadav (SP): Rahul Yadav, son- in-law of former Bihar Chief Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav is contesting on SP ticket from Sikandrabad seat in Bulandshaher district. Rahul is married to Prasad’s fourth daughter Ragini and is the son of Congress leader Jitendra Yadav, a former SP MLA.</s>Uttar Pradesh Election 2017: Phase-1 will see polling across 73 constituencies today. (File Photo)</s>An Indian election officer marks the finger of a voter at a polling station in Muzaffarnagar in Uttar Pradesh on February 11, 2017. Voting got underway on February 11 in India's most populous state Uttar Pradesh in a contest seen as a key test for Narendra Modi halfway into his first term as prime minister. Pic/PTI

New Delhi/Lucknow: The first phase of the Uttar Pradesh elections passed off "peacefully" on Saturday with over 63 per cent polling recorded till 5 p.m. The percentage is expected to go up, the Election Commission said.

"Participation (of voters) has been exemplary. Sixty three per cent voters have cast their vote till 5 p.m. and the number would go up as there were queues in front of the polling centres," Deputy Election Commissioner Vijay Dev told reporters here.

Voting was continuing at some polling stations since voters who had queued up by 5 p.m. were allowed to exercise their franchise.

He said the elections spread across 15 districts, 73 assembly constituencies, involved over 2.6 crore voters, 839 candidates, including 73 women candidates.

He said there was no major law and order problem, and EVMs which malfunctioned at few polling booths, were replaced within no time.

"Elaborate security arrangements were made to ensure free and fair elections," he said, adding that over two lakh security personnel were deployed at various locations across the 15 districts.

Dev said that nearly three lakh "troublemakers" were bound down.

He said 3,888 cameras were also placed at various locations to keep watch on every activity in poll bound areas.

The Deputy Election Commissioner also said that Rs 19.56 lakh in cash, 4.4 lakh litre of alcohol worth Rs 4.4 lakh and gold and silver worth Rs 14 crore was seized before the elections.

Asked about the call for election boycott at a few places, Dev said that things were sorted out at six out of seven places where poll boycott call was given by the public dissatisfied for various reasons.

He, however, expressed satisfaction on the overall exercise of polling and thanked and congratulated all political parties and general public for their "cooperation".

"The first phase (of elections) has set the tone for the next six phases," he said

The polling percentage in the region has bettered the past two elections of 2007 and 2012, an election official in Lucknow told IANS based on reports gathered from all polling stations. The average polling is over 60 per cent in western UP seats.

By the time voting ended, Noida had recorded 59 per cent, Dadri 61, Jewar (65), Bulandshahr (64), Shamli (62), Fatehabad (70.82), Mathura (67), Agra (63.94) and Fatehpur Siri (69.49).

The polling percentage in Mathura improved by eight per cent over the 2012 state assembly elections.

Total vote percentage in the 2007 state assembly polls was 45.96 per cent and 59.40 per cent in 2012. This is set to be broken this time round as people have turned out in much larger numbers.

At few places, polling was disrupted or delayed due to technical snags in EVMs, said an official, adding that by and large voting was smooth and steady at most places.

Sporadic incidents of poll violence were also reported from some places. Clashes between activists of the ruling Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party were reported from two places.

The largest constituency in this phase, as per population, is Sahibabad in Ghaziabad and the smallest is Jalesar in Etah.

There were 26,822 polling centres in this phase of polling. Among the candidates in the fray was Pankaj Singh, the son of Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh.</s>Uttar Pradesh polls 2017: Polling for first phase begins, Narendra Modi appeals people to vote

New Delhi: Voting for the first phase of Uttar Pradesh polls 2017 has began on Saturday in which the fate of 73 candidates will be decided.

It is the 17th UP Legislative Assembly election and will continue till March 8. The state poll is divided in seven phases.

Here are the live updates related to Uttar Pradesh polls 2017



 Hours before the first phase of polling in Uttar Pradesh, the Election Commission (EC) on Friday cracked the whip on the bureaucracy and police.

The poll panel officials said the District Magistrates of Bahraich, Deoria, Sonebhadra and Kannauj have been shifted with immediate effect.

Excise Commissioner Bhavnath has also been removed and Mratyunjaya Kumar Narayan posted in his place. Police chiefs of two districts — Hardoi and Ghazipur — have also been given marching orders by the EC.

Gorakhpur DIG Shivsagar Singh has been replaced by Neelabja Chowdhary, Azamgarh DIG Dharamveer has also been removed and Uday Shankar Jaiswal appointed in his place. IG Bareilly zone Vijay Singh Meena has also been replaced and Vijay Prakash given the charge.

Assem Arun has been named the new IG of Varanasi and Suvendra Kumar Bhagat removed from this post.

Bahraich District Magistrate Abhay has been replaced by Ajay Deep Singh.

Kannauj DM Ashok Chandra has been removed and Jai Prakash Sagar appointed in his place. Kannauj is the parliamentary constituency of Dimple Yadav, wife of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav.

Deoria DM Anita Srivastava has been replaced by Abrar Ahmad and Sonebhadra DM Chandra Bhushan Singh has been removed and Pramod Kumar Upadhaya appointed as the new district magistrate.

Hardoi Superintendent of Police Rajeev Malhotra has been removed and replaced by Chandra Prakash, Ghazipur SP Arvind Sen has been replaced by Subhash Chandra Dubey.

The poll panel was handed over a list of officials by parties and many social organisations doubting their neutrality.

Of some officials removed on Friday night, their relatives are contesting the state assembly elections.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has petitioned the EC at least 10 times to also remove the state DGP Javeed Ahmad and chief secretary Rahul Bhatnagar but the poll panel has not taken any action on these pleas so far.</s>With the first phase of Uttar Pradesh elections ending Saturday, parties are now gearing up for the next phase in which 67 seats will go to polls. Campaigning has begun to peak in areas where polls are slated for Wednesday. In the second phase, 11 districts holding a total of 67 assembly seats will go for polls. 721 candidates are in contention, out of which just 39 are women and a transgender. The Election Commission has identified 15 constituencies as vulnerable as three or more candidates in these areas are facing criminal charges

On Sunday, Uttar Pradesh chief minister and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav will address rallies in Sambhal and Amroha. Congress and BJP will be seen in Uttarakhand, campaigning for the elections due in the state on February 15. The murder of a 17-year old Jat boy in a village in Bijnor may effect the poll outcome in this assembly segment. A group of eight Muslims is alleged to have attacked the victim Vishal Singh and his father.

On Saturday, the first phase of polling was held. A 64% voter turnout was seen with stray clashes marking the voting day. This first phase included 73 constituencies with a total of 839 candidates in the fray. The total electorate is 2.59 crore. Despite reports of clashes between workers of parties at some places, the EC claimed there was no violence and breach of law and order reported from at any place. “So far, we have received no recommendation for a repoll in any polling booth. No cases of poll vitiation have been reported,” Chief Electoral Officer T Venkatesh said.</s>Lucknow: Voting began on Saturday morning in the first of the staggered seven-phase Assembly elections in crucial Uttar Pradesh, India’s most populous state.

Nearly 2.6 crore people in 73 constituencies of western Uttar Pradesh are eligible to vote in the high-stake Assembly elections, seen as a litmus test for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's nearly three-year rule.

839 candidates, including from main contenders BJP, BSP, allies Congress and Samajwadi party, RLD as well independents, are in the fray from the seats in 15 districts where 26,823 polling stations have been set up.

Among the electorate are 1.17 crore women and 1,508 belonging to third gender category. The largest constituency in terms of electorate is Sahibabad, while Jalesar is the smallest. The maximum number of 26 candidates are in fray from Agra South, while the least number of aspirants are in Hastinapur which has six candidates.

Prominent contestants include Pankaj Singh (Noida seat), son of Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader Pradeep Mathur (Mathura) against whom BJP spokesman Srikant Sharma is in fray, Mriganka Singh (Kairana), daughter of BJP MP Hukum Singh and controversial BJP MLAs Sangeet Som and Suresh Rana - Sardhan and Thanabhawan respectively.

Former BJP state president Lakshmikant Bajpai (Meerut), RJD chief Lalu Prasad's son-in-law Rahul Singh (SP) from Sikandarabad, and Sandeep Singh, grandson of Rajasthan Govenor Kalyan Singh from Atrauli are some other key figures.

In 2012, both SP and BSP bagged 24 seats each, with Rashtriya Lok Dal headed by Ajit Singh bagging nine and Congress five and BJP 11.

BJP is hoping to improve its performance as it had swept the state in the 2014 general elections, which gave the saffron party majority in Lok Sabha, and none of other parties could open their account in the region.

Elaborate security arrangements have been made in all districts. Around 6,000 paramilitary personnel are being deployed in all the 887 polling centres in Muzaffarnagar and neighbouring Shamli to instill a sense of fearlessness among voters, especially with focus on the areas which had witnessed communal riots in 2013.

Spearheading the BJP campaign, Modi had highlighted demonetisation as an "anti-graft" and "pro-poor" measure and promised to push his development agenda in the state.

Young guns Akhilesh Yadav and Rahul Gandhi, who have added a new dimension to the contest with the Samajwadi Party-Congress alliance, have claimed that BJP will face the wrath of the common man who "suffered" due to the note ban.

The first phase of voting in the Muslim-dominated region could throw light on the presence of All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) led by Asaduddin Owaisi.

The Muslim-dominated areas in the belt will be an acid test for BSP chief Mayawati, who is banking heavily on Dalit and Muslim votes. The region was once BSP's favourite hunting ground.

The districts that have gone to polls in the first phase are Shamli, Muzaffarnagar, Baghpat, Meerut, Ghaziabad, Gautam Buddha Nagar, Hapur, Bulandshahr, Aligarh, Mathura, Hathras, Agra, Firozabad, Etah and Kasganj.

For all political parties, the stakes are high as the first phase is likely to set the tone for the elections in the remaining six phases.

The six other phases of polling will be held on February 15, 19, 23 and 27 and on March 4 and 8, while counting will be taken up on March 11.</s>Vote in India's most populous state widely seen as a referendum on prime minister's controversial banknote ban.

Voting has opened in India's most populous state of Uttar Pradesh, in a contest seen as a key mid-term test for Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his economic reform policy.

Some 26 million people are expected to cast their ballots on Saturday as part of a seven-stage, one month-long voting process to elect a new state assembly.

Uttar Pradesh is home to an estimated 220 million people and polls in the state are typically a bellwether of national politics.

READ MORE: Women in Uttar Pradesh are still waiting for justice

The vote is widely seen as a referendum on Modi's controversial ban on high-value notes, a move aimed at combating tax evasion by the rich that has also hit poor rural communities hard.

The banknote ban, launched in November to purge the economy of untaxed income and the proceeds of crime and corruption, has disrupted daily life and commerce and caused the economy to slow.

On the campaign trail, Modi, who in 2014 swept the state in a landslide, said he had the interests of the poor at heart in making the move - the biggest gamble of his prime ministership.

A strong showing at the polls would strengthen his chances of a second term in 2019.

"The results will tell us whether Modi continues to enjoy unquestioned support or if it has started to erode," RK Mishra, an independent political analyst based in the state capital, Lucknow, told the Reuters news agency.

Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) polled 42 percent of the vote in Uttar Pradesh in the 2014 general election, winning 71 out of 80 seats on its way to claiming India's biggest national mandate in three decades.

Yet, voters have shown growing impatience that Modi's campaign promises have failed to deliver new jobs to a state where per capita incomes average less than $750 a year.

Many communities in the state still lack access to power, clean water and basic medical services.

"It is the Godzilla of states," said BJP national spokesman Nalin Kohli.

People tend to vote along traditional caste and religious lines, and successive governments have exploited communal divisions to fire up their base and poach voters from opponents.

Pollsters say it will be tough for the BJP to repeat its general election performance in 2014.

The BJP is locked in a tough fight with the incumbent chief minister 

Akhilesh Yadav from the regional Samajwadi Party, which has formed a political alliance with the country's main opposition Congress Party, led by Rahul Gandhi, scion of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty.

The last phase of the Uttar Pradesh elections is scheduled for March 8, and results from the state, along with elections in Punjab, Goa, Uttarakhand and Manipur, are due on March 11.</s>UP Elections 2017: 73 constituencies in Western UP voted in state's first phase of polls.
Voters in Uttar Pradesh cast ballots in Phase 1 of the state's 2017 elections, with Phase 7, the final poll, to be held on 8 March. This will be an important test of India's November policy change that removed 86 percent of the cash then in circulation.