Uttar Pradesh on Sunday recorded a voter turnout of 61.09 per cent, while Punjab reported 66.53 per cent in the Assembly elections.
According to the Election Commission of India, in Uttar Pradesh, Etah witnessed the highest voter turnout of 42.24 per cent followed by Lalitpur (42.12 per cent) and Manpuri (41.14 per cent) till 1 pm during the third phase.
Kanpur Nagar recorded the lowest percentage of voter turnout of 28.50 per cent. Further, Jhansi saw 32.83 per cent voter turnout.
Meanwhile, Fazilka in Punjab reported 40.59 per cent voter turnout which is the highest. While Sahibjada Ajit Singh Nagar reported 27.22 per cent voter turnout which is the lowest in Punjab.
59 Assembly seats across 16 districts went to the polls on Sunday and as many as 627 candidates were in the fray. Over 2.16 crore voters were eligible to exercise their franchise at 25,794 polling places and 15,557 polling stations in the third phase of Assembly elections.
Among the key constituencies where polling began today include Karhal where former chief minister and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav is contesting his maiden Assembly election.
Akhilesh's uncle and Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party (Lohia) supremo Shivpal Singh Yadav is contesting from Jaswantnagar seat, ANI said.
EC takes suo motu cognizance of MCC violation by Akhilesh Yadav
The complaint has been filed in Saifai, a university town in the Etawah district. The 48-year-old contesting candidate from the Karhal seat has been accused of allegedly sharing his opinions with the media personnel in the premises of his respective voting centre, as per the report.
BJP worker shot outside polling booth, SP claims EVM issues
Soon after polling for the third phase of Assembly elections kicked off in Uttar Pradesh, Samajwadi Party alleged discrepancies in the Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) stating that the Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) issued a slip of the BJP as the voter cast his vote to the former, ANI said in a report.
The party asked the Election Commission to take cognisance of the matter and ensure "smooth and fair voting".
"BJP's slip is coming out after pressing the button of Samajwadi Party at booth number 121 of Bhognipur 208 assembly of Kanpur rural. The Election Commission should take cognizance for ensuring smooth and fair voting," SP tweeted in Hindi.
The party further complained about the "defective" VVPAT at 228 Vidhan Sabha of Hamirpur District, Booth Number 432 and asked the EC to take the matter into account, ANI said in a report.
"228 Vidhan Sabha of Hamirpur District, Booth No. 432 Slip is not coming out after casting vote, please take cognizance of Election Commission and District Administration," said the tweet in Hindi.
Highlighting that no EVMs are available in booth number 136 of Dibiyapur Vidhan Sabha 203 of Auraiya, the party asked the EC to take note of the incident.
"EVMs have not yet reached booth number 136 of Dibiyapur Vidhan Sabha 203 of Auraiya due to which voting was disrupted. Take note of the Election Commission. Ensure smooth and fair voting," SP tweeted.
However, the EC dismissed the complaint as baseless.
UP | We received a complaint that a chit displaying BJP symbol is getting generated after pressing the button against SP's Cycle symbol on the EVM at booth number 21 in Bhognipur, Kanpur Dehat. This complaint has been found baseless: Addnl Chief Electoral Officer, BD Ram Tiwari pic.twitter.com/6kFEbw7DKw
— ANI UP/Uttarakhand (@ANINewsUP) February 20, 2022
FIR against Kanpur Mayor, Sonu Sood restrained from visiting booths According to Hindustan Times, another controversy erupted after Kanpur mayor Pramila Pandey got herself photographed while voting for the Bharatiya Janata Party. As per the report, Kanpur Nagar district magistrate said that an FIR has been lodged against Pandey under relevant sections for breach of secrecy of voting at Hudson School polling station by sharing pictures from inside the polling booth showing the EVM.
#BattleForStates | FIR filed against BJP's Kanpur Mayor Pramila Pandey for sharing her pictures while casting vote. #ElectionsWithNews18 #PramilaPandey #UttarPradeshElections Updates: https://t.co/ADR4FO1X9r pic.twitter.com/kBjJh4nuJg — News18.com (@news18dotcom) February 20, 2022
Meanwhile, the Election Commission on Sunday restrained actor and philanthropist Sonu Sood from visiting polling stations in Moga, where his sister is contesting on a Congress ticket, after receiving complaints that he was allegedly influencing voters, according to officials.
Sood's vehicle was also impounded by the police, they said, adding that a video surveillance team was also deployed outside his residence. However, he has denied the charges of influencing voters. Moga Returning Officer (RO) Satwant Singh said that Sood was directed not to visit polling stations.
Sood accused some candidates of buying votes, but the district election office did not find any substance in the allegation. In a tweet, Sood alleged, “Other Candidates in #Moga Constituency are buying votes. @ECISVEEP should take immediate action regarding the same.”
On Sood's accusation, the RO said no such incident came to their notice. He said several locations were checked but no cash was found. Sood's sister had joined the Congress last month.
Punjab polls
Voting for 117 constituencies in Punjab was held amid tight security today. In Punjab, over 2.14 crore voters will decide the fate of 1,304 candidates who are in the fray.
There were 2,14,99,804 voters in Punjab eligible to exercise their franchise on Sunday. Over 1,300 candidates--1209 male, 93 women and two transgenders were in the fray spread across 23 districts of the state.
The state is witnessing a multi-corner contest this time with Congress, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Shiromani Akali Dal-Bahujan Samaj Party alliance, and the coalition of Bharatiya Janata Party-former chief minister Amarinder Singh's Punjab Lok Congress party as key players.
Villagers boycott polling
As per PTI, voters of Basiala village in the Garhshankar Assembly segment boycotted the polling on Sunday in protest against the closing of a railroad crossing. They refused to vote despite efforts by the administration, demanding that first the railroad on the Jalandhar-SBS Nagar-Jaijon rail track near their village be reopened.
Basiala village sarpanch Hardev Singh said the crossing was closed three years ago for the reasons best known to the railway authorities.
He said it caused difficulties to the inhabitants of Basiala, Bakapur Guru, Rasoolpur, Chauhra, Denowal Kalan and Dogarpur villages falling under Anandpur Lok Sabha constituency.
Due to the closing of the gates, commuters have been forced to travel a distance of about 2 km to reach the village. There are so many sharp turns on this alternative narrow route and it is very difficult to move tractor-trailers and school buses, he said.
The sarpanch said they had made a number of representations to MP Manish Tewari, Union Railway Ministry, Ferozepur Railway Division authorities and the district administration in this regard but nothing has been done so far, PTI said.
They had also sent a proposal to the railway authorities that the salary to the railway guard and other expenses for the opening of the railroad crossing will be met by panchayats of the affected villages, he said.
Deputy Commissioner-cum-District Election Officer Apneet Riyait said joint efforts by the administration and police are being made to persuade voters to take part in the polling.
According to a PTI report, some of the electorates had cast their votes in Rasoolpur village, she said. Garhshankar SDM Arvind Kumar said there are 1,117 electorates in the village and the administration had set up two booths there. He himself visited the village on Sunday and appealed to people to vote.
To pressure the government for the reopening of the railroad crossing, residents of Basiala, Rasoolpur, Chahera and Bakarpur village have been protesting for the past 15 days. On 13 February, they had blocked traffic at Basiala village on the Nawanshahar-Garhshankar road.
The counting of votes will be done on 10 March.
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