Lok Sabha Elections: Amid the polling in the third phase of the ongoing Lok Sabha elections, the Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Tuesday claimed that there will be attempts made to rob booths in Uttar Pradesh's Mainpuri by today evening. The Mainpuri Lok Sabha seat is considered the bastion of the Samajwadi Party. The seat was won by SP founder and former Uttar Pradesh CM Mulayam Singh Yadav in 2019, and in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, the party has fielded Akhilesh Yadav's wife, Dimple Yadav.
Speaking to ABP News, Akhilesh Yadav said that the party workers are being held by the administration in Mainpuri, and the Election Commission should take cognisance of the matter. “There will be attempts to rob polling booths in Mainpuri by evening. The Election Commission should take cognisance. The SP workers are being held by the administration in Mainpuri,” the former UP CM said.
Meanwhile, voting in 92 constituencies across 11 states and Union Territories commenced on Tuesday in the third phase of the ongoing Lok Sabha elections. The third phase will see over 1,300 candidates, including approximately 120 women, in the fray. The third phase of voting in the ongoing polls will draw curtains on polling in more than half of the 543 Lok Sabha seats.
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The states that are set to witness polling today include Assam (4 seats), Bihar (5), Chhattisgarh (7), Goa (2), Gujarat (25), Karnataka (14), Madhya Pradesh (8), Maharashtra (11), Uttar Pradesh (10), West Bengal (4), Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu (2). Among the key candidates are Union ministers Amit Shah, Jyotiraditya Scindia, Mansukh Mandaviya, Parshottam Rupala, Pralhad Joshi, and SP Singh Baghel.
According to the data released by the EC, voting turnout stood at 39.92 percent at 1 PM. More than 38 percent voters exercised their franchise in the polling for 10 Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh till 1 PM. In Mainpuri, 38.32% of voters cast their vote till 1 PM.