Eleven percent voting recorded in first two hours of polling in final phase in UP(1st lead: UP poll

Lucknow, Mar 3 (ANI): Around 11 percent of voters exercising their franchise in first two hours of polling for the seventh and penultimate phase of the Uttar Pradesh assembly polls covering 60 seats spread over 10 districts, which began this morning.ccording to reports, the voting began on a slow note today. The voting 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)