33 per cent turnout in Ferozabad bypoll; over 25 per cent in 11 Assy seats

Lucknow, Nov 7 : An estimated 33 per cent of the total voters exercised their franchise till 1300 hrs to elect their representative in the bypoll to Ferozabad Lok Sabha seat, while over 25 per cent turned up to vote in the bypolls to 11 Assembly constituencies in Uttar Pradesh today.

According to State Election Office sources, the polling, which began at 0800 hrs, was peaceful and except for some early problems of malfunctioning of the EVMs at a few booths, everything was normal.

Polling will continue till 1700 hrs, while counting of votes will be taken up on November 10.

In a pre-poll crime, a Congress supporter was shot dead in the Bharthana Assembly seat.

Till 1200 hrs, the official voting was recorded at 27 per cent in Ferozabad and 19.30 per cent in 11 Assembly constituencies.

Puyawan(SC) Assembly seat recorded the highest 26 per cent polling, while Lucknow(West) was the lowest with 13 per cent.

A report from Ferozabad, quoting official sources, said the polling was peaceful and long queues were witnessed at almost all polling booths.

Congress candidate from the Ferozabad Lok Sabha seat Raj Babbar also visited several booths to review the polling process.

The Lok Sabha constituency was witnessing a direct fight between the Congress candidate and SP nominee Dimple Yadav, the daughter-in-law of party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav.

Altogether 177 candidates, including 12 women, are in the fray for the bypolls. A total 49 lakh voters are eligible to exercise their democratic right at 5,613 polling booths.

A total 2,300 micro observers had been deployed to oversee the polling process, while 2,200 digital cameras and 700 video cameras were being used to record the polling.

The Election Commission had identified 1,900 booths as sensitive and polling was going on under special security arrangements.

In Ferozabad, the EC had deployed five central observers to oversee the election process.

The 11 Assembly seats going to polls are: Poawayan(SC), Lucknow (West), Isauli, Hainsar Bazar, Padrauna, Kolasala, Rari, Etawah, Barthana, Lalitpur and Jhansi. Ferozabad is the lone Lok Sabha seat.