Voting picks up in Uttar Pradesh

After a slow pace of voting in the morning, polling picked up across the 10 Lok Sabha constituencies in Uttar Pradesh Thursday, officials said.

Long queues of voters formed at polling stations in all places including Muzaffarnagar, which has remained tense ever since communal riots last year left over 60 people dead.

Election Commission officials told IANS that polling was most intense in Bijnore where former actress Jaya Prada is the Rashtriya Lok Dal candidate.

Voting percentage in Gautam Buddha Nagar (Noida), the bustling suburb adjoining New Delhi, was over 11 percent in just two hours after polling began in the state at 7 a.m.

Saharanpur reported 13 percent voting in just two hours.

Polling was also heavy in Ghaziabad where BJP candidate and former army chief General V.K. Singh is pitted against Raj Babbar (Congress) and Shazia Ilmi (AAP).