UP polls: 8.15 per cent voter turnout till 9 am

An average 8.15 per cent voting was recorded in Uttar Pradesh till 9 am on Sunday.

The third phase of polling in 59 Assembly constituencies spread across 16 districts started at 7 am and will continue till 6 pm.

As per the data shared by the Election Commission, the average polling percentage till 9 am was 7.62 per cent in Hathras, 9.85 per cent in Firozabad, 9.53 per cent in Kasganj, 10.16 per cent in Etah, 11.02 per cent in Mainpuri, 5.88 per cent in Farrukhabad, 10.11 per cent in Kannauj, 6.83 per cent in Etawah, 7.74 per cent in Auraiya, 6.18 per cent in Kanpur Dehat, 5.66 per cent in Kanpur Nagar, 9.53 per cent in Jalaun, 7.69 per cent in Jhansi, 9.36 per cent in Lalitpur, 9.58 per cent in Hamirpur and 8.00 per cent in Mahoba.

As many as 627 candidates are in the fray in this phase, in which over 2.15 crore people are eligible to vote.

The districts where polling is being held are Hathras, Firozabad, Etah, Kasganj, Mainpuri, Farrukhabad, Kannauj, Etawah, Auraiya, Kanpur Dehat, Kanpur Nagar, Jalaun, Jhansi, Lalitpur, Hamirpur and Mahoba.

The Karhal assembly seat, from where Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav is contesting, is also going to the polls in this phase. The BJP has fielded Union minister S P Singh Baghel from the seat.

Sunday's polling will also seal the fate of the Samajwadi Party chief's uncle Shivpal Singh Yadav, who is contesting from his traditional Jaswantnagar seat.

Before the campaigning ended for the third phase on Friday, Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra undertook a door-to-door march in Kanpur, Kalpi, Jalaun and Hamirpur, while BSP chief Mayawati addressed election meetings in Jalaun and Auraiya.

Samajwadi Party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav sought votes for his son Akhilesh Yadav in Karhal.

The BJP had approached the Election Commission seeking deployment of paramilitary forces at all booths in Karhal.

Among other prominent faces in the fray in this phase are BJP's Satish Mahana (Maharajpur in Kanpur) and Ramvir Upadhaya (Sadabad in Hathras), and Louise Khurshid, who is contesting on the Congress ticket from Farrukhabad Sadar.

Louise Khurshid is the wife of senior Congress leader Salman Khurshid.

Former IPS officer Asim Arun is contesting from Kannauj Sadar on the BJP ticket while Uttar Pradesh minister Ramnaresh Agnihotri is also in the fray in this phase.

In the 2017 Assembly elections, the BJP had won 49 of the 59 seats while the SP had settled for nine. The Congress had got one seat while the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) drew a blank.

The 2022 assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh will be held in seven phases. The results are scheduled to be announced on March 10.