One person shot in Mainpuri in poll-related violence

One person was shot dead in Mainpuri in poll-related violence, but elsewhere the third phase of the Uttar Pradesh (UP) election ended peacefully on Sunday with a voter turnout of around 61 per cent.

The seats for which voting took place on Sunday are located in the west, central and southern parts of UP. In 2017, the BJP won 49 of these 59 seats while the Samajwadi Party (SP) won just nine. The Congress won one seat and Mayawati's Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), none.

The polling ended at 6 pm on Sunday with an average 61 per cent turnout of voters till 6 pm. An average of 48.81 per cent voting was recorded till 3 pm in 59 Assembly constituencies spread in 16 districts in the third phase of Assembly elections in the State.

In Mainpuri, a BJP worker was shot near a polling station. The accused, identified as a SP worker, is in custody.

Among the key constituencies where polling was held on Sunday are Karhal where former Chief Minister and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav is contesting his maiden Assembly election. The BJP has pitted Union Minister of State in the Ministry of Law and Justice Satya Pal Singh Baghel against Akhilesh Yadav.

According to the Election Commission, the average polling percentage till 5 p.m. was 59 per cent in Hathras, 57.14 per cent in Firozabad, 59.11 per cent in Kasganj, 63.58 per cent in Etah, 60.80 per cent  in Mainpuri, 54.55 per cent in Farrukhabad, 60.28 per cent in Kannauj, and 58.35 per cent in Etawah. The voter turnout was 57.55 per cent in Auraiya, 58.48 per cent in Kanpur Dehat, 50.76 per cent in Kanpur Nagar, 53.847 per cent in Jalaun, 57.71 per cent in Jhansi, 67.38 per cent in Lalitpur, 57.90 per cent in Hamirpur and 62.02 per cent in Mahoba.

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

The third phase polling will also seal the fate of the SP 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.

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 UP Minister Ramnaresh Agnihotri is also in the fray from the Bhogaon seat in Mainpuri district.

In the third phase of polls as many as 627 candidates are in the fray, of which 97 are women.  Over 2.16 crore voters were eligible to exercise their franchise at 25,794 polling places and 15,557 polling stations.  Districts, where polling was held, are Hathras, Firozabad, Etah, Kasganj, Mainpuri, Farrukhabad, Kannauj, Etawah, Auraiya, Kanpur Dehat, Kanpur Nagar, Jalaun, Jhansi, Lalitpur, Hamirpur, and Mahoba.

In Etawah city one person Krushnkant Tewari at the Kokpura polling booth died of cardiac arrest. He was rushed to the hospital. Later his body was handed over to family without a post-mortem.  In Mainpuri an incident of group clash leading to stone pelting was reported from the Kishni Assembly seat. Police later controlled the situation.

The SP and BJP workers clashed at a polling booth of the Babina Assembly seat in Jhansi district over fake voting. One person was injured in the incident.  In the Kanpur Cantt Assembly seat many voters could not cast their vote as their name was missing from the electoral rolls. The name of the entire family of Brijesh Shukla who had contested the municipal election in 2012 was missing from the voters' list.  In the Kasganj Assembly seat five people were taken into custody for attempting to cast vote with fake identity papers.