ECI should take cognizance of PM's rally on voting day: SP leader Hasan

"The election commission should take cognizance of the matter. I believe that this is not justified for free and fair elections," Hasan told ANI.

PM Modi will hold public rallies in Uttar Pradesh's Amroha, Damoh in Madhya Pradesh and Wardha in Maharashtra on Friday.

Hasan appealed to the voters to exercise their franchise to save democracy.

"This is the festival of democracy in which people cast their vote. Casting votes is required to save democracy and the Constitution. The kind of 'jumle' they (BJP) provide and messages they deliver to fool people," he said

ST Hasan had initially filed his nomination for the Moradbad seat but later withdrew his nomination after the SP named Ruchi Vira as the candidate.

In Uttar Pradesh, Saharanpur, Bijnor, Kairana, Muzaffarnagar, Nagina (reserved for Scheduled Castes), Moradabad, Rampur and Pilibhit are going to the polls today.

In the first phase, voting is being held in the 102 constituencies that are spread across 21 states and Union Territories.

There are over 16 crore people who are eligible to vote in the first phase.

Polling for assembly elections in the north-eastern states of Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim also started along with voting for the first phase of Lok Sabha elections on Friday morning.

Arunachal will be polling for two Lok Sabha seats and the 60-member Assembly. Apart from Arunachal, Sikkim will vote for 32 assembly seats and a lone Lok Sabha seat.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is seeking his third consecutive term, while the opposition bloc-INDIA- a coalition of opposing parties formed to take on the BJP in the general elections, is eyeing ousting him from power.

A total of 16.63 crore voters are going to vote in the first phase of Lok Sabha polls, deciding the fate of 1625 candidates, with Nitin Gadkari, Kiren Rijiju, Bhupendra Yadav, and Arjun Ram Meghwal among several Union ministers in the fray. (ANI)