Lucknow, Apr 18: Polling in the third phase of assembly elections in Uttar &13;Pradesh began on a dull note this morning, across 57 constituencies spread over &13;10 districts, under an unprecedented security cover.
State Chief &13;Electoral Officer (CEO) Anuj Kumar Bishnoi told sources that polling started at &13;0700 hours amid tight security arrangements in all the 57 assembly &13;segments.
Sources said in the first one hour of polling about four per &13;cent of the total 1.51 crore voters had exercised their franchise at 14884 &13;polling booths.
According to EC sources, preliminary teething trouble &13;were reported from several places due to non-functioning of the Electronic &13;Voting Machines(EVMs) but efforts were underway to rectify them at the &13;earliest.
Encouraged by the violence-free polling in Phase-I on April 7 &13;and Phase-II on April 13, the EC has further tightened security arrangements for &13;polling in the third phase in communally sensitive Moradabad, Rampur and Bijnor &13;districts of the state.
Security forces are conducting flag march while &13;the international border with Nepal in Pilibhit and inter-state borders have &13;been sealed.
Central Para Military Forces have been deployed at all &13;polling booths and sensitive areas to ensure free and fair &13;polling.
Deputy Election Commissioner J P Prakash is keeping a constant &13;vigil in the sensitive areas through a helicopter while each of the 57 &13;constituencies has been provided with one additional central observer to monitor &13;the polling.
More than 660 companies of central para military forces, &13;along with 60,000 state police have been deployed for polling in this phase &13;which include several communally sensitive districts like Amroha, Moradabad, &13;Rampur, Bijnor, Sambhal and Bareilly.
Chief Minister Mulayam Singh &13;Yadav(Gunnaur), deputy speaker of the state legislative assembly Rajesh Agarwal &13;of BJP (Bareilly city), state Urban Development minister Mohammad Azam Khan &13;(Rampur) are among the 861 candidates whose fate will be sealed in the &13;Electronic Voting Machines(EVMs) today.
UNI
State Chief &13;Electoral Officer (CEO) Anuj Kumar Bishnoi told sources that polling started at &13;0700 hours amid tight security arrangements in all the 57 assembly &13;segments.
Sources said in the first one hour of polling about four per &13;cent of the total 1.51 crore voters had exercised their franchise at 14884 &13;polling booths.
According to EC sources, preliminary teething trouble &13;were reported from several places due to non-functioning of the Electronic &13;Voting Machines(EVMs) but efforts were underway to rectify them at the &13;earliest.
Encouraged by the violence-free polling in Phase-I on April 7 &13;and Phase-II on April 13, the EC has further tightened security arrangements for &13;polling in the third phase in communally sensitive Moradabad, Rampur and Bijnor &13;districts of the state.
Security forces are conducting flag march while &13;the international border with Nepal in Pilibhit and inter-state borders have &13;been sealed.
Central Para Military Forces have been deployed at all &13;polling booths and sensitive areas to ensure free and fair &13;polling.
Deputy Election Commissioner J P Prakash is keeping a constant &13;vigil in the sensitive areas through a helicopter while each of the 57 &13;constituencies has been provided with one additional central observer to monitor &13;the polling.
More than 660 companies of central para military forces, &13;along with 60,000 state police have been deployed for polling in this phase &13;which include several communally sensitive districts like Amroha, Moradabad, &13;Rampur, Bijnor, Sambhal and Bareilly.
Chief Minister Mulayam Singh &13;Yadav(Gunnaur), deputy speaker of the state legislative assembly Rajesh Agarwal &13;of BJP (Bareilly city), state Urban Development minister Mohammad Azam Khan &13;(Rampur) are among the 861 candidates whose fate will be sealed in the &13;Electronic Voting Machines(EVMs) today.
UNI
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