LS polls phase 3: UP records 46.78% voter turnout till 3 PM

According to the Election Commission (EC), UP recorded 46.78 per cent voter turnout till 3 PM today, May 7 in phase 3 of LS polls being held for 10 seats in Uttar Pradesh.

Voting started at 7 AM and will end at 6 PM today. By 3 PM, 46.78 per cent votes were cast.

Agra witnessed 43.67 per cent polling, Aonla 46.75 per cent, Budaun 45.44 per cent, Bareilly 45.96 per cent, Etah 48.93 per cent, Fatehpur Sikri 46.18 per cent, Firozabad 47.80 per cent, Hathras 44.63 per cent, Mainpuri 46.80 per cent and Sambhal 52.24 per cent, EC said.

This phase is important for the family members of Samajwadi Party founder Mulayam Singh Yadav. SP chief Akhilesh Yadav's wife Dimple Yadav is aiming to retain the Mainpuri seat, which she won in a by-poll following the death of her father-in-law.

Akshay Yadav, the son of SP national principal general secretary Ram Gopal Yadav is contesting from Firozabad and Aditya Yadav, the son of SP national general secretary Shivpal Yadav, is making his electoral debut from Budaun.

Early in the day, Akhilesh Yadav, Dimple Yadav, their daughter Aditi Yadav, Ramgopal Yadav, Dharmendra Yadav and other family members cast their votes in Etawah's Saifai. BJP candidates S P Singh Baghel cast his vote in Agra and Parmeshwar Lal Saini in Sambhal.

In Budaun, residents of Dhoranpur village boycotted the polling for the first three hours, saying politicians had ignored their demand for a road. A sub-divisional magistrate reached the village to persuade the local people to vote.

There were boycotts in Nagla Jawahar, Neem Kheria and Nagla Umar villages in Firozabad as well.

Akhilesh Yadav alleged that the BJP were preparing to loot booths in Mainpuri. "They are detaining opposition people in police stations," he said without giving details.

He also alleged rigging of votes at some places and said, "Information is coming from some places that the government is using force. It is heard that officers have been deployed outside polling booths." BJP leader Prem Shankar Shakya alleged that some unidentified persons hurled stones at his vehicle in Mainpuri's Kusmara area when he was going to vote along with the party's former district unit chief Pradeep Chauhan and others.

He claimed that his driver was injured in the attack.

Superintendent of Police, Vinod Kumar said that action will be taken after a complaint is received.

Samajwadi Party's Budaun candidate Aditya Yadav alleged that the local administration was not allowing party supporters to vote at various booths in Ujhani Sahsvan.

"I have made a complaint in this regard with an EC observer and have given proof of police atrocities. We are only getting assurances," he said adding that water was poured on an SP agent's polling bag containing voter slips.

Talking to reporters in Sambhal, SP candidate Zia-ur-Rehman Barq alleged that a circle officer doubled up as a BJP worker and snatched bags and voter slips from his party's workers and detained them. He requested the EC to remove the officer from his post immediately.

Uttar Pradesh has the highest 80 parliamentary constituencies among all the states. Polling in the state is spread across all seven phases from April 19 to June 1. The counting of votes will be taken up on June 4.

With agency inputs