Filing of nominations for the first phase of Lok Sabha election came to an end on Monday evening.
In all the eight constituencies going to polls in the first phase, as many as 146 candidates have filed their papers. The scrutiny of papers will be done on Tuesday. March 28 is the last date for withdrawal of papers.
In the first phase, Saharanpur, Kairana, Bijnor, Meerut, Muzaffarnagar, Baghpat, Ghaziabad and Gautam Buddha Nagar are going to polls.
Three Union ministers — General (Retd.) VK Singh (Ghaziabad), Dr Mahesh Sharma (GB Nagar) and Satpal Singh (Baghpat) — of the BJP, Rashtriya Lok Dal chief Ajit Singh (Muzaffarnagar) and his son Jayant Chaudhary (Baghpat) are in the fray in the first phase election.
The first phase poll is likely to witness triangular contests among Bharatiya Janata Party, Samajwadi Party-Bahujan Samaj party-Rashtriya Lok Dal alliance and the Congress.
In the first phase, around 1.50 crore voters will exercise their franchise, including 82.24 lakh males, 68.39 lakh females and 1,014 of third gender.
A total of 16,581 booths will be set up for casting votes in the first phase, out of which over 15 per cent are sensitive.
There was a rush by candidates to meet the deadline for filing nominations for the first and second phases of Lok Sabha polls. Monday being the last date for filing papers for the first phase before 3 pm, candidates made a beeline to submitted their papers.
Tuesday is the last date for filing nominations for the second phase elections.
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath accompanied actor-turned-politician Hema Malini when she filed her papers for the Mathura Lok Sabha seat. UP Animal Husbandry Minister SP Singh Baghel filed his papers from Agra (Reserved) constituency.
UP Congress chief Raj Babbar also filed his papers from Fatehpur Sikri seat in Agra. The Congress had earlier fielded Babbar from Moradabad but later changed his constituency to Fatehpur Sikri which goes to poll in the second phase of polling.
The 80 Lok Sabha constituencies in the state will go to polls in seven phases from April 11 to May 19, followed by counting of votes on May 23.
