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Seven killed in UP poll violence

Sharat Pradhan in Lucknow

Seven people were killed and 24 others injured in the first phase of panchayat elections in Uttar Pradesh.

State Principal Home Secretary V K Mittal told rediff.com, "Pitched battles and exchange of fire between rival groups were reported from half a dozen places."

"Three people were killed in Mianpuri, central Uttar Pradesh, two in Shravati, a Buddhist pilgrimmage near Gorakhpur, eastern UP and one each in Ghaziabad and Azamgarh," he said.

There are more than 1.25 million candidates in the fray. Nearly 750,000 of the country's two million gram panchayats are in UP. This election has been rated as the largest of its kind in any Indian state.

About 80 million voters will exercise their franchise, which has some 628,287 contestants in the fray for the village panchayats, 309,782 candidates for village heads and 204,473 for area panchayats.

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