Lucknow: Polling for 59 assembly constituencies across 16 districts of Uttar Pradesh has begun today February 20 at 7 AM in the third phase of the polls.The voting will continue till 6 PM and over 2.15 crore voters will decide the fate of as many as 627 candidates, who are in the fray in this phase.The districts where votes are being cast are Hathras, Firozabad, Etah, Kasganj, Mainpuri, Farrukhabad, Kannauj, Etawah, Auraiya, Kanpur Dehat, Kanpur Nagar, Jalaun, Jhansi, Lalitpur, Hamirpur and Mahoba.The Karhal assembly seat in Mainpuri, is reportedly the place from where Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav is contesting, is also going to the polls in the third phase.According to the latest updates, an average of 8.15% of voter turnout has been recorded in the first two hours.Opposition Alleged Discrepancies in Polling BoothsSoon after polling began in Uttar Pradesh, the Samajwadi Party alleged discrepancies in an Electronic Voting Machine in Kanpur Rural. The party alleged that even after a voter pressed the button next to Samajwadi Party, the Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) issued a slip of the BJP. They asked the Election Commission to take note.As of now, all eyes are on the Karhal seat in the Yadav family stronghold Mainpuri from where Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav is contesting his first state elections. The BJP has fielded Union Minister SP Singh Baghel against him. The SP has lost this seat just once since the party's inception in 1992.After phase three, nearly half of UP's 403 assembly seats would have done with their voting. (With Inputs From Agencies)
