Noida Election 2024 LIVE: 33.19% Voting in Ghaziabad till 1pm, Congress & SP Complain About EVM Malfunction at 3 Booths

Noida Election 2024 Live Updates: NOIDA, or the Gautam Buddha Nagar Lok Sabha constituency, is voting today (Friday, April 26). Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) Dr Mahesh Sharma, Samajwadi Party’s (SP) Rahul Awana and Bahujan Samaj Party’s (BSP) Rajendra Singh Solanki are among the key candidates.

Gautam Buddha Nagar is segmented into three subdivisions: Noida, Dadri and Jewar. Within the district lie Noida, Greater Noida, Dadri, Jewar, YEIDA city and Dankaur.

Nearly 26.75 lakh people are eligible to vote in the region today, the results for which will be declared on June 4.

Named after Gautama Buddha, the city forms a part of the Delhi National Capital Region (NCR). While Delhi will vote in the sixth phase of Lok Sabha elections on May 25, Gautam Buddha Nagar is voting between 7am to 5pm on April 26 as it is part of Uttar Pradesh.

Uttar Pradesh, which sends the maximum number of MPs, 80, to Parliament, will vote in all seven phases.

Noida Lok Sabha Election 2024 Phase 2: Polling Updates

• BJP leader Shehzad Poonawalla votes in Noida, says, “What is very heartening is that by 11am almost 40% votes have been casted in this booth already! It will cross 90% I’m told.”

• Former Union minister VK Singh voted in Ghaziabad. He said, “I am not contesting this time, and there’s a difference between not fielded and not contesting…”

• Ghaziabad, made up of five segments — Loni, Muradnagar, Sahibabad, Ghaziabad and parts of Dhaulana, is seeing a triangular contest. A total of 14 candidates are in the fray. Among top contenders are Ghaziabad legislator Atul Garg, who is fighting polls on BJP ticket, Dolly Sharma from INDIA bloc and Nandkishor Pundhir from BSP.

• Amid voting, Congress candidate Dolly Sharma tagged Election Commission on X and claimed that the electronic voting machine (EVM) in Ghaziabad’s booth number 335 has been shut for last two hours.

She also alleged that voting has been slowed down in areas with higher population of minority community, and “people are being threatened”.

• After Congress, Samajwadi Party (SP) tagged the Election Commission on X and claimed that they have received information about EVM malfunction at booth number 282 of Ghaziabad Lok Sabha constituency, “which is a Muslim-dominated area. The party said that the poll panel should take cognizance and ensure fair voting.

• Around 2:30pm, Dolly Sharma again complained about EVM malfunction in Vijay Nagar’s Sardar Patel School in Ghaziabad. She even alleged that “fake voting” was happening at the booth.

• Battery-operated vehicles are ferrying voters to polling booth in posh Sector 15A locality in Noida, Gautam Buddha Nagar.

Results of 2019 Noida Lok Sabha Elections

Five years ago, Dr Mahesh Sharma, the incumbent MP from the BJP, had won with an overwhelming mandate of 8,30,812 votes. On the other hand, his nearest rival, BSP’s Mahagatbandhan candidate Satveer Nagar, obtained 4,93,890 votes.

In Noida assembly constituency, Sharma garnered 2,60,502 votes, up from 1,81,681 votes in the previous election. The combined votes of Nagar, who got 62,442 votes, and Congress’s Dr Arvind, who managed 20,796 votes, in the assembly constituency only made up 30% of the BJP candidate’s vote share.

Lok Sabha Election 2024 Phase 2: Voter Turnout in Noida

This section will be updated as and when the voter turnout begin to trickle in, based on number of Gautam Buddha Nagar residents who queue up and get inked today.

Voting in Noida Lok Sabha Election 2024 Phase 2: What’s Open and Shut

• Liquor shops across Noida and Greater Noida, which were closed from the evening of April 24, will remain shut till midnight of Friday, April 26.

• While malls in Noida will remain open (including DLF Mall of India), the restaurant and bars inside these shopping facilities will not serve liquor considering it is a ‘dry day’.

• The National Restaurant Association of India (NRAI) has declared that nearly 50 restaurants in Noida will offer a 20% discount to those who show their inked fingers within 24 hours after casting their vote.

• Schools, colleges, and other educational institutions will remain shut today, but will be functional on Saturday, April 27.

• The Gautam Buddha Nagar district administration has instructed factories and industries in Noida and Greater Noida to announce a paid holiday to its workers on April 26.

• In good news, Noida and Greater Noida residents, who invest in share market, can continue to do so without any hinderance as stock markets will remain open on April 26. The NSE has said that it will be closed on May 20 when voting will be held in Mumbai.

• According to a report in Times of India, Felix Hospital is extending a complimentary health checkup to those who have cast their ballots. Also, a private studio in Greater Noida has announced that it will provide a free photoshoot for those who show their inked fingers as proof of having voted.

• The Nagar administration will felicitate those residents’ welfare authorities (RWAs) and apartment owners’ association (AOAs) where voter turnout shows an improvement.

Noida, Greater Noida and Ghaziabad Residents to Skip Voting?

The incentive for residents’ welfare associations come at a time when reports say many residents of Noida, Greater Noida and Ghaziabad may skip voting amid the hot weather, and head to the mountains to enjoy the long weekend.

“We have received a lot of queries about the availability of accommodation. It is expected that the footfall will increase on Saturday morning. Usually, we get more footfalls on the weekends. As the weather turns hotter, the footfall increases,” a report in India Today quoted Digvijay Singh Bisht, President of the Nainital Hotels and Restaurant Association.

The report also quoted a resident of Supertech Eco Village 1 as saying that some of his neighbours have already left for the mountains, while others are headed there to spend the long weekend.

Check Traffic Diversions in Noida on April 26

The Noida police issued a traffic police advisory for Noida’s Phool Mandi (flower market) in Noida for Friday. As per the advisory, all types of vehicles will be barred from proceeding on the internal roads around the Phool Mandi complex except for official vehicles on election duty. EVMs will be stored in Phool Mandi after elections.

Explore Live updates on the Lok Sabha Elections 2024 Phase 2 In regions, including Kerala , Karnataka , Noida , and West Bengal . Stay informed about key constituencies, voting trends, and candidate insights. Get Lok Sabha Election 2024 Related Real-Time Updates At News18 Website.