UP polls: 50.37 percent voter turnout recorded till 3 p.m.

Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) [India], Feb. 23 (ANI): The fourth phase of Uttar Pradesh assembly polls saw a voter turnout of 50.37 percent till 3 p.m on Thursday. The polling is currently underway in 53 segments of 12 districts in Bundelkhand and Eastern regions of the state. The districts are Allahabad, Chitrakoot, Banda, Fatehpur, Hamirpur, Jalaun, Jhansi, Kaushambi, Lalitpur, Mahoba, Pratapgarh and Raebareli. The Election Commission has taken several steps to ensure peaceful voting. A total of 12492 polling centers have been erected for 1 crore 84 Lakhs voters. A total of 680 candidates, including 61 women, are in the fray in this phase. Voting which started at 7 am, will continue till 5 p.m. Meanwhile, incidents of poll boycott were reported from Pratapgarh and Fatehpur districts, but local administration tried to persuade the people for their participation in the poll process. Polling was disrupted at many polling booths due to technical snags in EVMs. but it was corrected later on. Voters were also seen agitated at some booths as their names were missing from voter lists. Borders of districts have been put under surveillance and heavy deployment of forces for round the clock checking is made. The results will be announced on March 11. (ANI)