Polling in Punjab will be held from 8 am to 6 pm and 59 constituencies across 16 districts in Uttar Pradesh are voting in the 3rd phase today
Right after polling began in Uttar Pradesh, the Samajwadi Party claimed discrepancies in an Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) in Kanpur Rural stating 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.
Polling in Congress-ruled Punjab is also voting today. Punjab started early morning held from 8 am to 6 pm and polling in UP began at 7 am and will end at 6 pm. After phase three, nearly half of UP’s 403 assembly seats would have voted with 59 constituencies spread across 16 districts in Uttar Pradesh voting in the third phase of polling today.
Uttar Pradesh recorded a voter turnout of 8.15 percent and Punjab recorded 4.80 percent till 9 am. After phase three, nearly half of UP’s 403 assembly seats would have voted. 172 seats will complete polling after this phase.
In Uttar Pradesh, all eyes are glued to 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.
In Uttar Pradesh, other prominent candidates are the SP chief’s uncle Shivpal Singh Yadav (Jaswantnagar), BJP’s Satish Mahana (Maharajpur in Kanpur), Ramveer Upadhayay (Sadabad in Hathras), Asim Arun (Kannauj Sadar), and Congress’ Louise Khurshid (Farrukhabad Sadar). Louise Khurshid is the wife of senior Congress leader and former Union Minister Salman Khurshid.
Punjab will vote in a single phase to elect 117 members to the state assembly.
As Congress tries to keep Punjab, a multi-cornered contest will see the BJP challenging the election alone without its long-time ally Akali Dal. Captain Amarinder Singh, who was unceremoniously removed as Chief Minister last year, and started his own party Punjab Lok Congress, has now joined hands with the BJP. The Aam Aadmi Party is the other major challenger.
Prominent faces in Punjab are Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi from the Chamkaur Sahib seat, Punjab Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu against SAD’s Bikram Singh Majithia from the Amritsar East seat, AAP’s Bhagwant Mann from Dhuri, Captain Amarinder Singh from Patiala, Sukhbir Singh Badal from the Jalalabad Assembly constituency, Parkash Singh Badal from the Lambi seat, Ganieve Kaur Majithia from the Majitha seat and Harsimrat Kaur Badal from the Bathinda seat.
The votes will be counted and the results will be declared on 10 March 2022.