Uttar Pradesh Election 2017: Phase-3 saw polling across 69 constituencies today.
Uttar Pradesh assembly elections drive into the third phase today. Over 826 candidates from 105 political parties are contesting for 69 seats. They come from six national parties, seven state parties, 92 unrecognised parties and 225 independent candidates are contesting for the 69 assembly seats of the 12 districts in the third phase. The key parties to watch out for in this election are the BJP, the ruling Samajwadi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party and the Congress.
Over 250 crorepati candidates are in the fray for the third phase.
Key candidates in this phase include
Samajwadi Party's Aparna Yadav, Shivpal Singh Yadav and BJP's
Rita Bahuguna Joshi.
This phase also sees about 110 candidates with criminal cases. BJP and BSP have the most number of candidates with criminal cases. They are closely followed by the Samajwadi Party.
Uttar Pradesh assembly elections are being conducted in seven phases. The votes will be counted on March 11.
Here are the highlights for the Uttar Pradesh election 2017:
6.05 pm IST: 62% voter turnout in the third phase till 5 pm
5.20 pm IST: "There is no rift in SP. Akhilesh will become chief minister as a lot of development work was done in his regime," Mulayam Singh Yadav was quoted by news agency PTI.
3.56 pm IST: Shivpal Yadav casts his vote in Saifai.
3.44 pm IST: 51.5 Per Cent Voting Recorded Till 3 PM In Phase-3
1.55 pm IST: 39.2 Per Cent Voting Recorded Till 1 PM In Phase-3
1.21 pm IST: Mulayam Singh Yadav's wife Sadhna Singh casts her vote in Saifai.
12; 53 pm IST: Samajwadi Party MP Dimple Yadav votes in Saifai.
12.10 pm IST: 24 Per Cent Voting Recorded Till 11 AM In Phase-3
12.08 pm IST: Samajwadi Party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav votes in the Utar Pradesh poll in Saifai.
12.06 pm IST: BJP MP Sakshi Maharaj casts his vote in Unnao.
12.03 pm IST: BJP leader and Union Minister Kalraj Mishra votes in Lucknow.
10.20 am IST: 10.1 per cent voting recorded till 9 am in phase-3 of UP election 2017.
10.10 am IST: Uttar Pradesh
Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav votes in his family's home village of Saifai.
10.00 am IST: Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh casts his vote in the third phase in Lucknow.
9.20 am IST: Pankaj Singh, son of Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and BJP candidate from Noida, casts his vote in Lucknow.
9.05 am IST: BSP chief and former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister
Mayawati casts her vote in Lucknow. Addressing the media, she said that the BSP will secure 300-plus seats in the election.
9.00 am IST: Party-wise break up of rich candidates in Phase 3 of UP Election
Party wise break up of Rich Candidates - Phase 3| Party | Total number of candidates analyzed | No of Rich Candidates |
|---|
| BJP | 68 | 61 |
| BSP | 67 | 56 |
| SP | 59 | 51 |
| RLD | 40 | 13 |
| Lok Dal | 21 | 8 |
| Cong | 14 | 7 |
| Peace Party | 12 | 4 |
| All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen(AIMIM) | 6 | 1 |
| CPM | 3 | 1 |
| Others | 298 | 24 |
| IND | 225 | 24 |
| Total | 813 | 250 |
| Note : Rich candidates are candidates whose assets are 1 Cr and above Source : ADR |
BJP leader Rita Bahuguna Joshi, who joined the party from the Congress in 2016, casts her vote in Lucknow. She is contesting against Mulayam Singh Yadav's daughter-in-law Aparna Yadav.
8.19 am IST: BJP leader Sudhanshu Trivedi casts his vote in Lucknow.
8.12 am IST: Mulayam Singh Yadav's brother Abhay Ram Singh votes at a polling booth in the Yadav family's home village of Saifai.
8:05 am IST: PM Narendra Modi urges all voters to participate and cast their ballot
8:00 am IST: Mulayam Singh Yadav's cousin Ram Gopal Yadav says that all is well within the family and is confident that Samajwadi Party will form government.
7: 25 am IST: People queue up to vote at Lucknow Montessori Inter College
7:00 am IST: Voting begins for 69 assembly seats for Phase 3.
6:45 am IST: Two of
the key contests in Phase 3 include Lucknow's battle of Rita Bahuguna Joshi (BJP) vs Aparna Yadav (SP) and Jaswant Nagar:Shivpal Yadav (SP) taking on Manish Yadav (BJP)
6:40 am IST: The third phase comes as the biggest litmus test for the ruling Samajwadi Party (SP) as it held 55 of these 69 seats in the 2012 assembly polls
6:30 am IST: Areas including Etawah, Kannauj, Kanpur, Unnao, Barabanki and state capital Lucknow, will vote today
6:25 am IST: Voting for the third phase of Uttar Pradesh's assembly elections to begin shortly.