22 pc voting till midday in UP civic polls

Lucknow, Nov 29: Around 22 per cent of the 9 point 4 million voters exercised their right to franchise till 1200 hrs on Wednesday in 26 districts in the third and final phase of Uttar Pradesh civic polls amid reports of minor clashes, protest over faulty voters’ list and malfunctioning of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs).

Amid tight security arrangements, voting started on a brisk note with people reaching their respective polling booths after their morning walk. Till 1200 hrs, around 22 per cent of the 94.05 lakh electorate cast their vote at 10,810 polling booths.
Re-polling in one booth in Balaganj area of Lucknow Nagar Nigam was also underway. Some incidents of violence were reported before the polling began. In Etah, a clash took place between Bharatiya janta Party (BJP) and Samajwadi Party (SP) supporters in Jalesar area. BJP MLA Sanjeev Divakar was injured in the clash, which broke out after allegations by SP supporters that BJP workers were distributing cash to the voters. UNI