Third phase of UP polls sees 61% turnout

Uttar Pradesh reported a voter turnout of 61 per cent during the third phase of elections which were violence free.

The final turnout is expected to be higher as voters were still seen queuing up outside polling stations when polls closed at 5 p.m. During the last Assembly polls in 2012 these constituencies had a voter turnout of 60 per cent.

Over 2.4 crore voters were eligible to cast their votes to the 69 Assembly constituencies spread over 12 districts which went to polls on Sunday; 826 candidates were in the fray during the third phase of elections.

Key constituencies including Lucknow North, East, West, Central and Cantt, Kanpur, Kannauj, Etawah, Farukkhabad apart from Mohanlalganj, Bakshi Kaa Talab and Malihabad went to the polls in the third phase.

The key contestants included Rita Bahuguna Joshi, who crossed over from the Congress to join the Bharatiya Janata Party recently, Samajwadi Party leader Shivpal Yadav and Aparna Yadav, daughter-in-law of SP supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav.

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Bahujan Samaj Party Chief Mayawati and UP chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav cast their vote today.

There was brisk polling right through the day with at least 12 per cent of the electorate casting its ballot within the first two hours; this figure rose to 24 per cent after four hours. During the third phase of polls, the authorities seized ₹38.40 crore worth of currency, liquor worth ₹5.72 crore and precious metals worth ₹19.32 crore.

Uttar Pradesh is going through a a seven-phase polls to elect 403 members to its legislative Assembly. The seventh and last phase of elections is scheduled for March 8 while counting of votes for all seats will take place on March 11.

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