Lok Sabha elections: Polling underway for 10 third-phase seats in UP

Polling began Tuesday morning for 10 seats in Uttar Pradesh, including high-profile Mainpuri, in the third phase of the Lok Sabha elections.

Over 18.9 million voters will seal the fate of 100 candidates in parliamentary constituencies of Sambhal, Hathras (SC), Agra (SC), Fatehpur Sikri, Firozabad, Mainpuri, Etah, Budaun, Aonla and Bareilly, where polling began at 7 am and will go on till 6 pm, according to the Election Commission.

It is an important phase for Uttar Pradesh's Yadav family.
 

The Samajwadi Party's (SP) Dimple Yadav is aiming to retain the Mainpuri Lok Sabha seat, which she won in the bypolls following the death of her father-in-law and party founder Mulayam Singh Yadav.

Akshaya Yadav, the son of SP national principal general secretary Ram Gopal Yadav, will try to reclaim the Firozabad seat.

Aditya Yadav, the son of SP national general secretary Shivpal Yadav, is making his electoral debut from the Budaun constituency, which was won by his cousin Dharmendra Yadav in 2014.

Polling during the day will also seal the fate of Union minister S P Singh Baghel, Uttar Pradesh Tourism Minister Jayveer Singh and its Minister of State for Revenue Anoop Pradhan Balmiki.

Baghel, Jayveer Singh and Balmiki are contesting from Agra (SC), Mainpuri and Hathras (SC) Lok Sabha seats respectively.

Rajveer Singh, the son of former Uttar Pradesh chief minister and BJP stalwart Kalyan Singh, is looking to score a hat-trick from Etah, which was represented in 2009 by his father as a candidate of the Jan Kranti Party.

In Bareilly, the main contest has narrowed down to the BJP's Chhatrapal Singh Gangwar and the SP's Praveen Singh Aron after the nomination papers of BSP candidate Chhotey Lal Gangwar were rejected.

In the third phase, the BJP has given tickets to five new faces -- Chhatrapal Gangwar from Bareilly, Durvijay Singh Shakya from Budaun, Anoop Pradhan Balmiki from Hathras, Vishwadeep Singh from Firozabad and Jayveer Singh from Mainpuri.

The first four replaced Santosh Gangwar, Sanghamitra Maurya, Rajveer Singh Diler and Chandrasen Jadaun. Jayveer Singh is the sole candidate in this phase who replaced a losing candidate from the BJP.

The BJP retained the winning candidates from Etah, Agra (SC), Aonla and Fatehpur Sikri. It also gave a ticket to Parameshwar Lal Saini from Sambhal Lok Sabha seat.

The Congress has fielded Ramnath Singh Sikarwar from Fatehpur Sikri, while its INDIA bloc ally SP has fielded candidates in the remaining nine seats in this phase.

Uttar Pradesh has 80 parliamentary constituencies, the largest number among all states. Polling in the state is spread across all seven phases from April 19 to June 1.

The counting of votes will be taken up on June 4.