2024 LS polls: 26.2 lakh voters to elect Noida MP

NOIDA: Atotal of 26,20,040 voters will elect the next Lok Sabha MP from the Gautam Buddh Nagar constituency on April 26, up from 22.97 lakh in 2019, officials said on Sunday. District Magistrate and local Returning Officer Manish Kumar Verma said Gautam Buddh Nagar has five Assembly constituencies -- Noida, Dadri, Jewar, Khurja and Sikandrabad.

Khurja and Sikandrabad fall in the adjoining Bulandshahr district but are part of the Gautam Buddh Nagar Lok Sabha constituency, he added.

The notification for the polls will be issued on March 28 and the last date for filing nominations is April 4. Candidatures can be withdrawn till April 8 and voting would be done on April 26 in the second phase of the general elections, Verma said.

According to the official figures updated till March 15, Noida has 7,59,418 voters, Dadri 7,04,502 and Jewar 3,67,046. Sikandrabad has 3,97,500 voters and Khurja 3,91,574.

The total number of voters in Gautam Buddh Nagar district, excluding parts of Bulandshahr, is 18,30,966. This includes 102 third-gender voters, 10,08,345 men, and 8,22,519 women.

Among the voters, 10,502 are differently-abled, 24,223 first-time voters, 26,353 people aged 80 years or above and 2,906 service voters, the data showed.

Of the total 1,826 booths in Gautam Buddh Nagar, 51 have been identified as 'model booths', seven would be managed completely by women, four by divyangs, while young officers and personnel would be in charge of five.

Mahesh Sharma of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won the Lok Sabha polls from Gautam Buddh Nagar in 2019 and 2014.

A total of 13.89 lakh voters out of 22.97 lakh exercised their franchise in 2019. In 2014, 11.94 lakh of the 19.86 lakh voters had cast their votes, according to the official figures.

In 2009, which was the first parliamentary election in then newly-formed constituency, 7.38 lakh of the 15.22 lakh voters had exercised their franchise.

Verma said, ''The most important pre-polling exercise was revising the electoral roll. It has been done. Over 18.30 lakh voters have been included in our electoral list (Noida, Dadri and Jewar) and we have 1804 polling booths and 22 auxiliary booths.'' He said the district has been divided into 120 sectors and 26 zones to maintain law and order. Sectoral and zonal magistrates would be deployed in these areas.

''So far, we have identified 342 sensitive booths where confidence-building measures, whether preventive or otherwise, are being taken. The first level of checking of EVMs has been done. We are prepared and will ensure that Election Commission's guidelines are followed in letter and spirit,'' Verma said.

He said the Model Code of Conduct has come into force following which flying squads and surveillance teams were activated. Political advertisements have been removed from government offices and public places as per rules for the first 24 hours since the announcement of the poll code.

''The upper limit of expenditure for a candidate is Rs 95 lakh,'' the DM said, citing Election Commission guidelines.

Additional Commissioner of Police (law and order) Shivhari Meena said over 5,000 police personnel of the commissionerate would be deployed on election duty and additionally personnel of the paramilitary, Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC), civil police, home guards, local security guards would be roped in.

''We have 24 border points with two states (Delhi and Haryana) where we have started round-the-clock barrier checking. There are also four inter-district borders where checks are being done. ''Paramilitary and PAC personnel have started area domination exercises at different locations. The police and the administration are committed to ensuring free, fair and incident-free polls for a maximum voter turnout,'' Meena told reporters.

For area-wise expenditure monitoring of candidates in Noida, Dadri and Jewar, there will be a total of nine static surveillance teams, nine flying squads, three video surveillance teams, three video-viewing teams, and three assistance expenditure observers, according to officials.