Lucknow: Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday, May 3,  cast his vote in Lucknow in the first phase of Municipal Corporation elections. He urged people to exercise their franchise: "I appeal to all the voters of Lucknow to cast their votes for the Uttar Pradesh  Municipal Elections 2023," the defence Minster said after casting his vote.

On Thursday at 7 am, the first round of voting for municipal corporations got underway under strict security measures. Yogi Adityanath, the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, and Brajesh Pathak, his deputy, were among the first to cast ballots.
First-phase elections will elect 7,593 representatives, including 10 mayors and 820 corporators, from 37 districts throughout 9 divisions and 10 municipal corporations.

Saharanpur, Muzaffarnagar, Bijnor, Amroha, Moradabad, Rampur, Sambhal, Agra, Firozabad, Mathura, Mainpuri, Jhansi, Jalaun, Lalitpur, Kaushambi, Prayagraj, Fatehpur, Pratapgarh, Unnao, Hardoi, Lucknow, Rae Bareli, Sitapur, Lakhimpur Kheri, Gonda, Ba

There will be voting in 830 wards throughout 10 municipal corporations, with 2,658 polling stations and 9,699 polling places total. In Municipal Corporation, there are 53,62,151 female voters and 63,03,542 male voters.

At Lucknow's Mahanagar Boys' Monfront Inter College, deputy chief minister Brajesh Pathak also voted while urging the electorate to support progress.

In the municipal corporation elections, where the BJP won the majority of the seats, he declared a significant victory for his party.

On the other side, Mayawati, the leader of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), cast her ballot on Thursday and voiced her optimism for the party to have a "good response" from the electorate.

"Without the assistance of any other party, our party is fighting this election on its own. We anticipate a favourable response to our party and successful outcomes, BSP Supremo told reporters. She also advised people to participate in the currently taking place urban elections by casting a ballot.

On May 11, voters in the second round of the election will choose the members of 760 local bodies throughout the state. Voter tallies will be tallied on May 13. 

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