Lucknow, May 4 (IANS): Voting to elect urban body chiefs in 37 districts of Uttar Pradesh started on Thursday for the first phase of the elections.

Voting is being held in nine divisions and 10 municipal corporations.

In 10 municipal corporations, voting is taking place in 830 wards, 9,699 polling places and 2,658 polling stations.

The 37 districts are Shamli, Muzaffarnagar, Saharanpur, Bijnor, Amroha, Moradabad, Rampur, Sambhal, Agra, Firozabad, Mathura, Mainpuri, Jhansi, Jalaun, Lalitpur, Kaushambhi, Prayagraj, Fatehpur, Pratapgarh, Unnao, Hardoi, Lucknow, Rae Bareli, Sitapur, Lakhimpur Kheri, Gonda, Bahraich, Balrampur, Shravasti, Gorakhpur, Deoria, Maharajganj, Kushinagar, Ghazipur, Varanasi, Chandauli and Jaunpur.

According to official figures, 2.40 crore voters will use their right to vote to choose/elect 10 mayors, 820 councillors, 103 municipal council presidents, 2,740-member municipal councils, 275 presidents, including 3,645 municipal council members in the 37 districts of Uttar Pradesh.

The polling for the second phase will take place on May 11 to elect representatives for the posts across 760 local bodies in the state.

The counting of votes will take place on May 13.