Voting for all 117 seats in Punjab and 59 Assembly constituencies in Uttar Pradesh was held on Sunday. This was the third of the seven rounds of polling in Uttar Pradesh.

In Punjab, voting began at 8 am and continued till 6 pm, reported PTI. In Uttar Pradesh, voting was held between 7 am and 6 pm.

Till 5 pm, a voter turnout of 64.34% was recorded in Punjab and 60.08% in Uttar Pradesh, according to the Election Commission.

Punjab

Over 2.14 crore residents voted to choose from 1,304 candidates for 117 seats in Punjab.

Punjab is witnessing a contest between the Congress, the Aam Aadmi Party, the Shiromani Akali Dal-Bahujan Samaj Party coalition, the Bharatiya Janata Party, Punjab Lok Congress and the Shiromani Akali Dal (Sanyukt), and the Sanyukt Samaj Morcha – a political front of various farmer bodies.

Aam Aadmi Party spokesperson Raghav Chadha on Sunday alleged that a Congress candidate was sitting next to an electronic voting machine, or EVM, in Bhoa Assembly Constituency’s booth number 95 to see who was voting for whom.

In a tweet, he also alleged that the EVM in Majitha’s booth number 138 has malfunctioned and sought held from the Election Commission.

Incumbent Chief Minister and Congress leader Charanjit Singh Channi is contesting from Chamkaur Sahib and Bhadaur constituencies.

Channi and Congress candidate Sidhu Moosewala who is contesting for the Mansa constituency have been booked for violating the model code of conduct, PTI reported on Saturday. They were found campaigning in Mansa after the 6 pm deadline on Friday which was the last day for campaigning.

Besides Channi, other prominent candidates in the fray include Aam Aadmi Party’s chief ministerial face Bhagwant Mann, Punjab Congress President Navjot Singh Sidhu, former Chief Ministers Amarinder Singh and Parkash Singh Badal and Shiromani Akali Dal chief Sukhbir Singh Badal.

Punjab BJP chief Ashwani Sharma and former Union minister Vijay Sampla are also contesting the polls.

Voting in Punjab was earlier going to be held on February 14 but it was postponed because of Guru Ravidas Jayanti.

Several political leaders had told the Election Commission that many residents will leave for Uttar Pradesh’s Varanasi city around the polling date to celebrate the poet’s birth anniversary. The leaders had expressed fear that these residents would not be able to cast their votes in such a scenario.

In the 2017 elections, Congress had secured a majority by winning 77 seats. The Aam Aadmi Party-led coalition had won 22 seats and the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance 18.

Uttar Pradesh

Voting in Uttar Pradesh was held for 59 Assembly constituencies spread across 16 districts. As many as 2.15 crore voters will cast their votes to elect from 627 candidates.

Elections were held in Firozabad, Farrukhabad, Kanpur Dehat, Kanpur Nagar, Etah, Hamirpur, Hathras, Mahoba, Kasganj, Mainpuri, Kannauj, Etawah, Auraiya, Jalaun, Jhansi and Lalitpur.

A first information report was registered against Kanpur Mayor Pramila Pandey on Sunday for allegedly breaching the secrecy of voting at the Hudson School polling station, District Nagistrate Neha Sharma said.

Pandey had clicked pictures and videos inside the polling booth when she had gone to cast her vote, reported NDTV.

Among the prominent faces in the fray in this phase are BJP leader Satish Mahana and Ramvir Upadhaya and Congress candidate Louise Khurshid.

Louise Khurshid is the wife of Congress leader Salman Khurshid. They have cast their votes.

Uttar Pradesh minister Ramnaresh Agnihotri and former Indian Police Service Officer Asim Arun are also in the fray.

Polling is also being held at the Karhal Assembly seat from where Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav is contesting.

In the 2017 state Assembly elections, the National Democratic Alliance had won 325 of the 403 seats. The Congress-Samajwadi Party had secured 54 seats and the Bahujan Samaj Party 19.

Also read: Punjab elections: ‘Outcome may not be in conformity with opinion polls that put AAP in the lead’