62.3% polling in 8 UP Lok Sabha seats

Polling in the second phase of the 17th Lok Sabha elections is underway. Voting is being held in eight UP seats - Aligarh, Amroha, Bulandshahr, Hathras, Mathura, Agra, Fatehpur Sikri and Nagina. Snags have been reported in EVMs and VVPATs at several booths.

Lucknow: Eight Lok Sabha constituencies that went to polls in the second phase of polling on Thursday in Uttar Pradesh recorded an average voter turnout of 62.30 per cent till 6. p.m., according to the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO).

The percentage is expected to increase further since voters were still in queue in many places when the figures last came in.

According to CEO L. Venkateshwarlu, the highest polling percentage (68.77) was reported from Amroha whereas Agra recorded the lowest of 59.6 per cent. He said that there was no case for a repoll in any of the constituencies.

Polling was held on Thursday in Bulandshahr, Aligarh, Hathras, Fatehpur Sikri, Nagina, Amroha, Mathura and Agra.

Glitches in EVMs were reported from over 150 polling stations and polling had to be stopped for some time till the EVMs were replaced.Two villages in Fatehpur Sikri did not cast their votes in protest against lack of development. Efforts to persuade the voters proved futile.The CEO denied complaints that certain caste groups were prevented from casting their votes.

• The total polling turnout in 8 seats of Uttar Pradesh till 5 pm is recorded at 58.61 percent

Voting percentage in the 8 constituencies till 5 pm:

• Nagina: 58 %
• Amroha: 64.26%
• Bulandshahr: 57.70%
• Aligarh: 60.20%
• Hathras:58.17 %
• Mathura: 56.60%
• Agra: 55.96%
• Fatehpur Sikri: 57.99%

• The total polling turnout in 8 seats of Uttar Pradesh till 1 pm is recorded at 38.94 per cent.

Voting percentage in the 8 constituencies till 1 pm:

• Nagina: 38.71%
• Amroha: 43.26%
• Bulandshahr: 39.70%
• Aligarh: 37.60%
• Hathras: 41.18%
• Mathura: 36.90%
• Agra: 38.24%
• Fatehpur Sikri: 35.96%
  
  
• 11:02 am: The total polling turnout in 8 seats of Uttar Pradesh till 11 am is recorded at 24.31 per cent.

  
  Voting percentage in the 8 constituencies till 11 am:

• Nagina: 23.25%
• Amroha: 23.96%
• Bulandshahr: 25%
• Aligarh: 23.81%
• Hathras: 25%
• Mathura: 30%
• Agra: 25%
• Fatehpur Sikri: 23.47%

• 11:02 am: Uttar Pradesh's Power Minister Shrikant Sharma went to his native place Gantholi in Mathura to cast his franchise. After casting the vote, the BJP MLA said that development was his party's only agenda and Mathura has witnessed all-round development after they came to power.
  
• 11:01 am: In Aligarh, several EVMs, 23 control units, 27 ballot units and 56 VVPATs have been replaced till now as they developed some technical snag.
  
• 10:10 am: Agitated residents of Gaajpura village in Nagina boycotted the elections as no polling booth was set-up in the village. They also staged a protest to push for their demands.
  
• 09:05 am: An EVM went defunct on booth no. 54 in Fatehpur Sikri, which is a Muslim-dominant area. The Muslim voters created a ruckus at the polling booth alleging the ruling government did not want them to cast their vote. On getting the information, the district administration reached the booth and pacified the agitating voters.
  
• 09:00 am: The total polling turnout in 8 seats of Uttar Pradesh till 9 am is recorded at 10.76 per cent.
  

Voting percentage in the 8 constituencies till 9 am:

• Nagina: 12.82%
• Amroha: 10.72%
• Bulandshahr: 11.40%
• Aligarh: 7.60%
• Hathras: 12.30%
• Mathura: 8.82%
• Agra: 11.36%
• Fatehpur Sikri: 11.05%
  
  
• 08:26 am: Snags were reported in EVMs at several booths of Bulandshahr. The EVM at booth no. 439, 441 and 422 in Anoopshahr were defunct. Besides, booth no. 26 in Badhitbadhai village of Teliyanagla here also developed some snag which is being fixed. "The malfunctioning EVMs are being replaced and we are trying to identify the snag. We have enough EVMs in spare," said Abhay Kumar Singh, district magistrate.
  
• 08:00 am: An EVM has gone defunct in the room no. 2 of booth no. 329 in Hathras district. Voters are standing in queues. The engineers deployed on the booth are still trying to fix the machine.
  
• 07:48 am: BJP candidate Bhola Singh tried to have a look at the EVM in a booth set-up at Sharma Inter College in Bulandshahr, but was stopped by the security personnel. On this, Singh called some senior official who spoke to the security personnel and later, he was allowed to enter the voting room, confirmed a security person deployed at the booth.
  
• 7:43 am: Voting in Mathura's Govardhan police station area has come to a halt due to defunct EVMs. Long queues of voters can be seen outside the polling booths. More EVMs have been brought to the booth number 46 to facilitate voting.
  
• 07:31 am: During trials in Nagina seat, VVPAT machines at two polling booths developed a technical snag. Sector magistrate issued instructions to replace the malfunctioning VVPATs. The machines were replaced at booth no. 289 at Naveen Sikhsha Sadan, Vishnoi Sarai and booth no. 59 at Kiratpur Hindu Inter College as they were not vending the paper slips.