Uttar Pradesh records more than 61 % voter turnout in 3rd phase of assembly polls

Uttar Pradesh recorded voter turnout of 61.02 percent in the third phase of the assembly election yesterday. Around 2.06 crore voters turned up to cast their votes till 5 pm for the third phase of UP Assembly elections. A total of 59 assembly constituencies in Uttar Pradesh voted in the third phase of polling.

Polling was spread across 16 districts - Hathras, Firozabad, Etah, Kasganj, Mainpuri, Farrukhabad, Kannauj, Etawah, Auraiya, Kanpur Dehat, Kanpur Nagar, Jalaun, Jhansi, Lalitpur, Hamirpur, and Mahoba. A total of 627 candidates were in the fray in the third phase.

Meanwhile polling for 117 Assembly seats in Punjab was held amid tight security arrangements yesterday. An overall voter turnout of 70.2% was recorded in Punjab. The final voting percentage, which is set to increase, will be known later after compilation of data.

Rural Punjab recorded higher turnout that urban pockets. In the 2017 Punjab Assembly polls, the voting percentage stood at 77.4. A total of 1,304 candidates, including 93 women and two transgenders, are in the fray this time. Polled EVMs will be kept in designated strongrooms under round the clock surveillance of CCTV cameras.

Punjab witnessed a multi-cornered contest among the Congress, AAP, SAD-BSP, BJP-PLC-SAD (Sanyukt) and the Sanyukt Samaj Morcha (SSM), a political front of various farmer bodies.

The counting of votes will take place on March 10.