UP polls: Over 61 percent voter turnout recorded till 5 pm

Lucknow: A total of 61.16 percent voter turnout was recorded as voting ended in the third phase of the ongoing assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh on Sunday. Till 3 p.m., the turnout was estimated to be 53 percent.

With over 826 candidates from 105 political parties contesting for 69 seats, polling began on Sunday morning for the crucial third phase of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly Elections.

The districts that went to polling in this phase are Farrukhabad, Hardoi, Kannauj, Mainpuri, Etawah, Kanpur, Kanpur Dehat, Auraiya, Lucknow, Unnao, Sitapur and Barabanki.There were 2 crore and 41 lakh voters, including over 1 crore 10 lakh women and 1028 third gender who decided the political fate of 826 candidates including 105 women in the fray.

Sixteen thousand 681 polling centers and 25 thousand 607 polling stations were erected for polling.Elaborate security arrangements were made for the smooth functioning of the polling process.