Sambhal, February 10: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Thursday slammed the previous governments in the state led by Opposition parties, saying that earlier criminals used to throw bombs at innocent citizens, but now Kanwar Yatras are taken out with great pomp and show to the chants of 'Bum-Bum-Bhole'.

He was addressing a public meeting in the Sambhal district ahead of the remaining six phases of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls.

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"Earlier, criminals used to throw bombs at innocent citizens. But now, Kanwar Yatra is taken out with great pomp and show to the chants of 'Bum-Bum-Bhole'," said Adityanath while addressing the audience.

Adityanath claimed that during the elections, women are coming in large numbers to vote for BJP, which had given them security.

"Businessmen and youth are also voting with excitement because there are no riots, crimes and anarchy in the state. There is silence at the houses of the ones who used to commit crimes and riots because they know that the countdown to March 10 has started," he added.

The Chief Minister said that even COVID-19 could not stop the speedy progress in the state.

"The first wave came, we controlled that. The second wave arrived, we made the state 'Aatmanirbhar' in Oxygen. The third wave came and went. We gave everyone free tests, treatment. Those who misinformed people on the vaccine and termed it as 'Modi vaccine' or 'BJP vaccine have to answer now. It is these vaccines that saved the population of 25 crores in the state from COVID-19," he added.

Adityanath stressed that the double-engine government of BJP means free vaccine, ration, construction of roads, medical colleges. "Earlier, the funds meant for ration, vaccines used to go to 'itra wale mitr' (friend with perfume)," he quipped.

As the first phase of the 403-member Uttar Pradesh Assembly concluded on Thursday, the voter turnout for the Jat-dominant belt of western Uttar Pradesh was recorded to be nearly 60 per cent.

As per the Election Commission of India's Voter Turnout application, the total voter turnout for the first phase of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections was 59.87 per cent at the end of the session.

The districts which recorded the highest voter turnout were Shamli with 66.14 per cent, followed by Muzaffarnagar and Mathura at 65.32 per cent 62.90 per cent respectively.

Gautam Buddha Nagar reported only 54.38 per cent voter turnout till 7:55 pm.

Other than Gautam Buddha Nagar, the districts with the lowest reported voter turnout are Ghaziabad, Meerut, Agra with 52.43 per cent, 60 per cent and 60.23 per cent respectively.

Voting for the first phase of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections began today at 7 am.

This phase of polls covered 58 Assembly constituencies across 11 districts of the state. The voting, which concluded at 6 pm, will decide the electoral fate of 623 candidates.

The second phase of polling for the Uttar Pradesh Assembly is scheduled for February 14. 586 candidates are in the fray for 55 Assembly Constituencies in the second phase. Post the completion of the seven phased elections, the counting of votes will take place on March 10.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)