Voting for the third phase of the Uttar Pradesh assembly polls took place on February 19 in which a total of 61.16 per cent voting was recorded till 5 pm. Chief Minster Akhilesh Yadav also cast his vote from Saifai and said that Samajwadi Party will be forming the party in alliance with the Congress and he is sure about it, whereas BSP chief Mayawati asserted that her party is going to win 300 seats, after casting her vote in Lucknow.
A total of 2.41 crore expected voters exercised their franchise and decided the fate of 826 candidates. There were 1.31 crore men, 1.10 crore women and 1,026 voters from the third gender.
The phase was being considered as the litmus test for Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav. There were 16,671 polling centres and 25,603 polling stations in this phase. The maximum number of candidates in the fray were from Etawah (21) the home town of Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, while the least number is in Haidergarh (3) assembly constituency of Barabanki.
Prominent personalities whose fates have been decided in this phase are Shivpal Singh Yadav, Arvind Singh ‘Gop’, Nitin Agarwal, Fareed Mehfooz Kidwai, Vijay Bahadur Pal, Abhishek Mishra, Rajeev Kumar Singh and Narendra Verma.
Here are the highlights:
6:00 pm: 61.16% voter turnout in the third phase of UP assembly till 5 pm
61.16% voter turnout in the third phase of #UttarPradeshElection2017 till 5pm pic.twitter.com/uJxEJPfpll
— ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) February 19, 2017
3:53 PM:
53% voter turnout in the third phase of #UttarPradeshElection2017 till 3pm pic.twitter.com/qwdji2vs7n
— ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) February 19, 2017
1:40 PM:
38.96% voter turnout in third phase of #UPElection2017 till 1 pm pic.twitter.com/Jpsv8uDKU7
— ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) February 19, 2017
12:40 PM: Let’s be progressive and think about the future, says Dimple Yadav after casting her vote
#UPPolls2017 Phase-3: Dimple Yadav casts her vote in Saifai, says, let’s be progressive and think about the future. pic.twitter.com/wjPmZqEITm
— ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) February 19, 2017
12:35 PM: Shivpal will win by a large margin, says Mulayam Singh Yadav in Saifai
12:25 PM:
Modiji ko kehne do jo kehna hai, godh SP ko liya hai UP ne: Mulayam Singh Yadav #UPPolls2017 pic.twitter.com/Q748Sl96lh
— ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) February 19, 2017
12:05 PM: Developmental work has been done in UP and Akhilesh will once again be the CM, Says Mulayam Singh Yadav after casting her vote.
Developmental work has been done in UP and Akhilesh will once again be the CM: Mulayam Singh Yadav #UPPolls2017 pic.twitter.com/2DVYgnK7iT
— ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) February 19, 2017
11:59 AM: Mulayam Singh Yadav reaches to cast his vote in Saifai with daughter-in-law Aparna Yadav
Mulayam Singh Yadav, accompanied by daughter-in-law Aparna Yadav, leaves after casting his vote in Saifai #uppolls2017 pic.twitter.com/Q8CvGjgeR5
— ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) February 19, 2017
11:54 AM: BJP MP Sakshi Maharaj casts his vote in Unnao
11:53 AM: Mulayam Singh Yadav reaches to cast his vote in Saifai.
#UPPolls Phase-3: Mulayam Singh Yadav reaches to cast his vote in Saifai. pic.twitter.com/pEvRLrGFVr
— ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) February 19, 2017
11: 30 AM: Union Minister and senior BJP leader Kalraj Mishra casts his vote at Ganna Sansthan booth in Lucknow.
10:25 AM: Senior Congress leader and former Union Minister Prakash Jaiswal casts his vote in Kanpur.
10:23 AM:
There is no conflict within the party, everyone is united.SP-Congress win will be historic: Prateek Yadav after casting vote in Saifai pic.twitter.com/aVim4imBtA
— ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) February 19, 2017
10:05 AM: There is a BJP wave in Uttar Pradesh, BSP and SP are fighting for 2nd and third place, says Pankaj Singh after casting vote in Lucknow
10:10 AM: Once again Samajwadi Party will be forming the Govt,in alliance with Congress, says CM Akhilesh Yadav in Saifai.
Once again Samajwadi Party will be forming the Govt,in alliance with Congress: CM Akhilesh Yadav in Saifai pic.twitter.com/v4ooWRZNoI
— ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) February 19, 2017
10:08 AM:
We were ahead in first 2 phases and I am confident that we will be ahead in 3rd phase also:CM Akhilesh Yadav after casting vote in Saifai pic.twitter.com/Zc7PHjY7D2
— ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) February 19, 2017
10:01 AM: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav casts his vote in Saifai
9:53 AM : Home Minister Rajnath Singh casts his vote in Lucknow.
Not only clear majority, BJP is winning by absolute majority in Uttar Pradesh: HM Rajnath Singh after casting vote in Lucknow pic.twitter.com/NS9fHOTKLO
— ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) February 19, 2017
9:43 AM: Stones pelted at Shivpal Yadav’s car in Jaswantnagar in Etawah.
UP: Stones pelted at Shivpal Yadav’s car in Etawah’s Jaswantnagar. More details awaited (file pic) pic.twitter.com/IRI7xgQmqU
— ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) February 19, 2017
9:41 AM: Chief Electoral Officer of Uttar Pradesh T Venkatesh cast his vote in Lucknow
9:26 AM: 12 % voting till 9 am
12% voting in third phase of polling in Uttar Pradesh till 9 am pic.twitter.com/0wm1xKe0Kp
— ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) February 19, 2017
9:20 AM: Voting percentage till 9 am- Kanpur Nagar 7.71%, Kannauj 11.65% and Sitapur 11%
9:15 AM: BSP is going to win 300 seats, says Mayawti after casting her vote in Lucknow
9:08 AM: Like in the first two phases, in the third phase also BSP will be number 1 and will form the goverment with a majority, says Mayawati after casting vote
8:59 AM: BSP chief Mayawati arrives to cast her vote in Lucknow at poll booth no.253
BSP chief Mayawati arrives to cast her vote in Lucknow (poll booth no.251) pic.twitter.com/nrbgQiD2ov
— ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) February 19, 2017
8: 29 AM: BJP’s Rita Bahuguna Joshi is contesting against Samajwadi Party’s Aparna Yadav from Lucknow Cantt constituency.
Mulayam ji’s emotional appeal points to the fact that Aparna Yadav is losing:Rita Bahuguna Joshi,BJP after casting vote in Lucknow pic.twitter.com/iLCdXt2y4y
— ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) February 19, 2017
8:18 AM:BJP Spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi cast his vote in a polling booth in Sherwood Academy, Lucknow
Lucknow: BJP Spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi cast his vote in a polling booth in Sherwood Academy #uppolls2017 pic.twitter.com/1pAIHQ8szA
— ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) February 19, 2017
7: 50 AM: There is no infighting at all as far as voting is concerned, we are winning 300+ seats, says Ramgopal Yadav after casting vote in Saifai
There is no infighting at all as far as voting is concerned, we are winning 300+ seats: Ramgopal Yadav after casting vote in Saifai pic.twitter.com/xdjuWJLfe1
— ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) February 19, 2017
7:46 AM Actor Ravi Kishan to join BJP today in presence of party president Amit Shah, says BJP MP Manoj Tiwari
7:41 AM: SP’s Nitin Agarwaal who is also a minister in UP Govt is contesting against Dharamveer Singh of BSP and Raja Bux Singh of BJP
Hardoi: SP candidate Nitin Agarwaal waits as EVM machine in booth number 198 is not working #uppolls2017 pic.twitter.com/Eryp5twJgT
— ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) February 19, 2017
7: 37 AM:Everything is fine in the family and we are going to make the government, says Abhay Ram Yadav (brother of Mulayam Singh)
Parivaar mein sab theek hai, hamaari sarkar ban rahi hai phir se: Abhay Ram Yadav(brother of Mulayam) after casting vote in Saifai pic.twitter.com/vUu1dQTNaK
— ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) February 19, 2017
7:20 AM: Queues outside polling booth no.253 in Lucknow Montessori Inter College
Queues outside polling booth no.253 in Lucknow Montessori Inter College #uppolls2017 pic.twitter.com/xDyvXF0u0p
— ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) February 19, 2017
7:15 AM :
Voting underway at a polling booth in Sultanul Madaris school in Old Lucknow #uppolls2017 pic.twitter.com/Fvw6Y96iZ4
— ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) February 19, 2017
12 districts that are voting in the third phase are: Farrukhabad, Hardoi, Kannauj, Mainpuri, Etawah, Auraiya, Kanpur Dehat, Kanpur Nagar, Unnao, Lucknow,Barabanki, Sitapur
Lucknow Central and Lucknow West have 17 candidates each, while Farrukhabad and Bhojpur have 20 each.
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.
Of the remaining seats, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) held six, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) five and Congress two in the last election. One seat was won by an independent.
Other than the stronghold of Etawah, which is the home turf of the Yadav clan, the popularity of Akhilesh Yadav is also up for test, especially after the ugly power struggle that was witnessed over the past few months in the state’s first family and the ruling party.
Party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav has not campaigned for the SP which he founded 25 years ago.