Akhilesh Yadav casts vote, says confident about SP getting maximum seats in UP

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on Thursday cast his vote from Saifai in Etawah district saying that he was confident that the Samajwadi Party would get maximum number of seats in the state.

"This is that area where votes have always gone in favour of our party. The farmers, the poor, all the people here have always supported the Samajwadi Party," said Yadav.

"According to me, in the third phase of polling will be in favour of SP and I am sure that we are going to win the maximum number of seats here," he added.

Polling is underway for the sixth phase of Lok Sabha elections. Voting is taking place for 117 constituencies spread over 11 states and one union territory.

These are - all 39 seats in Tamil Nadu, 19 in Maharashtra, 12 in Uttar Pradesh, 10 in Madhya Pradesh, 7 each in Bihar and Chhattisgarh, 6 each in Assam and West Bengal, 5 in Rajasthan, 4 in Jharkhand and one each in Jammu and Kashmir and Union Territory of Puducherry.

Voting commenced amid tight security at 7 a.m., and will end at 6 p.m.

In Uttar Pradesh, 167 candidates are in the fray for 12 seats. Chief Electoral Officer Umesh Sinha said, 504 polling centres will be under direct observation through Web casting.