Elaborate security arrangements have been made for the smooth conduct of polling in 10 Lok Sabha constituencies of Uttar Pradesh in the third phase on Tuesday. It includes deployment of more than one lakh security personnel.
As many as 170 companies of central para-military forces (CPMF) will be deployed at polling booths in this phase. The CPMF personnel held flag marches in several constituencies to instil confidence among voters.
The 10 Lok Sabha constituencies going to polls in this phase are in Rohilkhand region, identified as a Yadav-Muslim belt.
Union minister Santosh Kumar Gangwar (Bareilly), Samajwadi Party patron Mulayam Singh Yadav (Mainpuri), actor-turned-politician Jaya Prada and Samajwadi Party leader Mohammad Azam Khan (Rampur), BJP candidate Varun Gandhi (Pilibhit) and Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party (Lohia) founder Shivpal Singh Yadav (Firozabad) are among the 120 candidates in the fray.
The ten constituencies going to polls are Moradabad, Rampur, Sambhal, Firozabad, Mainpuri, Etah, Budaun, Aonla, Bareilly and Pilibhit.
Except for Budaun and Mainpuri, the remaining eight seats going to poll in this phase are held by the Bharatiya Janata Party.
In most of these constituencies, the BJP and the SP-BSP-RLD alliance are locked in a direct fight, but the presence of Congress in some constituencies has rendered the contest triangular, giving an edge to the BJP.
A strong 1.76 crore electorate, including 95.56 lakh males and 80.92 lakh females, are expected to vote in the third phase at 20,116 polling booths.
The highest number of 16 candidates are in the fray from Bareilly, followed by 14 each in Aonla and Etah, 13 each in Pilibhit and Moradabad, 12 each in Sambhal and Mainpuri, 11 in Rampur, nine in Budaun and six in Firozabad.
All the main parties held hectic campaign in the constituencies going to polls in this phase. Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati and Samajwadi Party founder Mulayam Singh Yadav shared the dais in Mainpuri after a gap of over two decades.
The SP-BSP-RLD gathbandhan (alliance) held a couple of joint meetings to seek support for its candidates while Congress president Rahul Gandhi addressed a meeting in Budaun in support of party candidate Saleem Shervani.
The BJP led the electioneering in this phase too, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi holding two meetings in Moradabad on April 14 and in Etah and Bareilly on Saturday.
