Allegations fly as 3rd phase polling begins in UP

Lucknow, April 23 (IANS) Polling began for the third phase of elections in Uttar Pradesh on Tuesday amidst levelling of accusations by candidates.

Samajwadi Party (SP) candidate from Badaun, Dharmendra Yadav, claimed on Tuesday that his rival candidate Sanghmitra Maurya's father and state minister Swami Prasad Maurya was still camping in Badaun which was a violation of the model code of conduct.

"He is neither a candidate nor a voter. As an outsider, he should have left the constituency after the campaigning ended. I have informed the district administration about his presence but no action has been taken. This is an obvious attempt to influence the election," Yadav alleged.

In Rampur, SP candidate Mohd Azam Khan told reporters that more than 300 EVMs were not functioning properly and the district officials were delaying their replacement as a result of which voting was slow.

Additional Returning Officer in Rampur, Brahma Dev Ram Tiwari, rubbished reports of 300 EVMs malfunctioning and said there were minor problems in some EVMs which were rectified.

Khan also alleged that his voters were being prevented from coming out of their houses.

As of 9 a.m., the overall vote percentage recorded was 10.24 per cent, said Chief Electoral Officer Ramesh Chandra Rai.

Polling in Moradabad, Rampur, Sambhal, Ferozabad, Mainpuri, Etah, Badaun, Aonla, Bareilly and Pilibhit began at 7 a.m. and will end at 6 p.m.

A total of 1.78 crore electorate would decide the future of 120 candidates in the fray including SP patron Mulayam Singh Yadav's clan, senior party leader Azam Khan and Bharatiya Janata Party's Jaya Prada.