UP second phase sees 65.5% polling

The second phase of the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections saw 65.5 per cent voting across 67 seats on Wednesday, the Election Commission said.

"The polling was 65.5 per cent till 5 p.m. and was continuing," Deputy Election Commissioner Vijay Dev told reporters in New Delhi.

Officials said that maximum voting was reported from Saharanpur and Lakhimpur Kheri.

Saharanpur saw 72 per cent polling, Bijnore 67 per cent, Rampur 62, Sambhal 64, Moradabad 65, Amroha 69.50, Budayun 62, Bareilly 65, Pilibhit 65, Shahjahanpur 62

and Lakhimpur Kheri 66 per centage voting, the poll officials said.

He said that Election Commission had made cash seizure of Rs 16.5 crore, liquor worth Rs 9 crore and drugs worth Rs 1.1 crore. The official said gold and silver have also been seized.

Barring some places where Electronic Voting Machines developed some snags, polling was smooth and peaceful in most of the 67 assembly constituencies across 11 districts.

Polling began on Wednesday morning amid tight security at 7 a.m.

Long queues of women, differently-abled and elderly voters were seen in most parts outside the poll booths.

In the 2012 assembly polls, the average polling in these constituencies was 64 per cent.

A total of 721 candidates were in the fray.

--IANS

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