25 percent voting recorded till noon in final phase of UP polls 2nd lead: UP polls)

Lucknow, Mar 3 (ANI): Over 25 percent voting has been recorded till noon in the polling for the seventh and penultimate phase of the Uttar Pradesh assembly polls covering 60 seats spread over 10 districts, which began this this morning.

Voting, which began on a slow note today, will continue till 5 p.m.

Over 1.82 crore voters are expected to exercise their franchise in this phase to decide the fate of 962 candidates.

The final phase would cover Bijnore, Moradabad, Bheem Nagar, Rampur, Jyotiba Phule Nagar, Badaun, Bareilly, Pilibhit, Shahjahanpur and Lakhimpur Kheri.

The fate of Samajwadi Party's (SP) muslim face Azam Khan, who is contesting from Rampur, would be decided in this concluding phase along with a host of other influential leaders.

A total of 18,927 polling stations have been set up and the Election Commission has made elaborate arrangements for this phase.

Over 60 percent polling was recorded in the sixth phase of Uttar Pradesh assembly polls on February 28.

The Uttar Pradesh polls are being viewed as an opportunity for major political parties to re-establish their foothold in the country's fifth largest and most populous state.

The first, second, third, fourth and fifth phases of polling occurred on February 8, 11, 15, 19, and 23 respectively. A new 403-member state assembly will be elected in March.

The poll results will broadly indicate trends for the 2014 general elections. (ANI)