UP Lok Sabha Election 2024: High-Stakes 3rd Phase Battle Concludes, Over 56% turnout recorded

Voting ended in 10 seats- Sambhal, Hathras (SC), Agra (SC), Fatehpur Sikri, Firozabad, Mainpuri, Etah, Budaun, Aonla and Bareilly. Over 1.88 crore voters cast their votes to decide the fate of 100 nominees in this phase. Stay on this page for all the latest updates throughout the polling day today.

Lucknow: With 16 out of total 80 Lok Sabha constituencies in Uttar Pradesh already voted in the first two phases of elections, voting ended for the 10 seats in the state today. Voting turnout till 5 PM was 55.13 per cent.

All eyes were on Samajwadi Party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav's kin. Dimple Yadav was hoping to retain the Mainpuri Lok Sabha seat from where she won in the polls following the demise of her father-in-law Mulayam Singh Yadav. Akshaya Yadav, the son of Ram Gopal Yadav, the national principal general secretary of SP, tried his level best to retain the Firozabad seat, which he had won in 2014.

Aditya Yadav, the son of SP national general secretary Shivpal Yadav, made his poll debut from the Budaun Lok Sabha seat, which was represented by his cousin Dharmendra Yadav in 2014.

Besides the Yadav family members, polling was conducted to test the fortunes of Union Minister SP Singh Baghel, Uttar Pradesh's Tourism Minister Jayveer Singh and Minister of State for Revenue Anoop Pradhan Balmiki.

--- All Updates ---

• 3 PM: "Fundamentally anti-Hindu": CM Yogi rips SP, Congress over Ram Mandir remark by Mulayam's cousin.
• 2.13 PM: On RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav's remark on reservation, Rajya Sabha MP and BJP spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi said that the apprehensions expressed by BJP and PM Modi are now proving to be completely true. "The genie of Muslim reservation has come out of the lamp of the INDI alliance and is visible in the sky from the South to the plains of Ganga. The thing worth noticing in the statement given by Lalu Prasad Yadav is that the most serious word he was asked about the Muslim community, he said yes Muslims should get reservation 'poora ka poora'. It became clear that they want to give reservation to the Muslim community by snatching the share of SC, ST and OBC," he added.
• 12.50 PM: Former Congress leader Acharya Pramod Krishnam cast his vote at a polling booth in Sambhal. BJP's Parameshvar Lal Saini is contesting against Samajwadi Party's Zia Ur Rehman Barq at the Sambhal Lok Sabha Constituency.
• 12 PM: On RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav's statement regarding reservation, Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath said that the Prime Minister has been saying that the parties associated with INDI alliance, be it Congress, RJD, Samajwadi Party will try to disturb the reservation of OBCs, SCs and STs and their manifesto mentions that. "When the Congress-led UPA government was in power, both RJD and Samajwadi Party were its constituents. At that time, these people had formed Ranganath Mishra Committee and Sachar Committee. Ranganath Mishra Committee recommended that 6% reservation should be given to Muslims, which was strongly opposed by the Bharatiya Janata Party at that time... BR Ambedkar was against reservation on the basis of religion...People should answer them through their votes and reject them, " he added.
• 11.30 AM: Union Minister BL Verma cast his vote in Ujhani. He said, "I appeal to every voter to cast their vote. This election of 2024 is for making the vision of 'Viksit Bharat' come true and to make PM Narendra Modi Prime Minister for the 3rd time. The polling of the third phase will be in the favour of the BJP... In UP, we will win all the 80 seats..."
• 11.02 AM: Samajwadi Party MP and candidate from Mainpuri Dimple Yadav said that people of every section are feeling neglected. "The way unemployment is continuously increasing, the way inflation is continuously increasing, the way the value of rupee is continuously falling in the international market, I think there is a huge deficiency and a huge flaw in the Bharatiya Janata Party...I think it is a fight of political ideology, fight for the protection of the Constitution and the protection of democracy," she added.
• 10.54 AM: After casting his vote, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav said that BJP is going to have a very bad defeat because farmers, youth, businessmen, people of every section are upset with them. "We hope that the Election Commission will take action on the complaints that are coming. It is being heard at many places that BJP workers, leaders want to capture the booth. I saw an official here who was abusing people... I will appeal to the voters to vote in large numbers and remove this government," he added.
• 10 AM: BJP candidate from Mainpuri Lok Sabha seat Jaiveer Singh offers prayer at Sheetla Mata Mandir. BJP's Jaiveer Singh is contesting against Samajwadi Party's candidate Dimple Yadav.
• 9.29 AM: A PwD (Persons with Disabilities) voter, Rahul brought to a polling booth in Kasganj by his father to cast his vote.
• 9.11 AM: Union Minister and BJP candidate from Agra Lok Sabha constituency, SP Singh Baghel casts his vote.
• 7.30 AM: BJP leader Harnath Singh Yadav casts his vote at a polling booth in Etah, Uttar Pradesh
• 7 AM: Prime Minister Narendra Modi took to X (formerly known as Twitter) and urged the citizens to come out in large numbers and cast their vote.
• 6.44 AM: In Sambhal, Former Congress leader Acharya Pramod Krishnam said that there is a wave for Narendra Modi across the country. "People of the country believe that for the future, upliftment, self-respect and pride of India, it is important for PM Modi to become the Prime Minister for the third time," he added.
• 6.40 AM: Akshay Yadav, SP candidate from Firozabad said, "I appeal to everyone to cast their vote. Voting is your right..."
• 6.29 AM: Samajwadi Party leader Ram Gopal Yadav said that he would cast his vote from at Saifai Primary School, along with his entire family. "I appeal to the voters to remove BJP to save the Constitution, protect reservations, for employment and alleviate poverty," he added.
• 6.21 AM: Visuals from booth number 220 in Saifai under Mainpuri Lok Sabha Constituency show last minute preparations ahead of the polls today.

Baghel, Jayveer Singh and Balmiki were in the fry from Agra (SC), Mainpuri and Hathras (SC) Lok Sabha segments. Rajveer Singh, the son of former Uttar Pradesh chief minister and BJP stalwart Kalyan Singh, was looking for a hat-trick from the Etah parliamentary constituency, which was also represented in 2009 by Kalyan Singh as a nominee of the Jan Kranti Party.

In Bareilly, the main contest was between the BJP's Chhatrapal Singh Gangwar and SP's Praveen Singh Aron, after the nomination papers of the BSP candidate Master Chhotey Lal Gangwar were rejected.

In this third phase, the BJP allocated tickets to five new faces--Chhatrapal Gangwar from Bareilly, Durvijay Singh Shakya from Budaun, Anoop Pradhan Balmiki from Hathras-SC, Vishwadeep Singh from Firozabad, and Jayveer Singh from Mainpuri Lok Sabha constituency.

The BJP retained the winning candidates from Etah, Agra (SC), Aonla and Fatehpur Sikri. It also allotted a ticket to Parameshwar Lal Saini from the Sambhal Lok Sabha seat.

The Congress fielded Ramnath Singh Sikarwar from Fatehpur Sikri, while its INDIA bloc ally, the Samajwadi Party, fielded candidates in the remaining nine seats in this phase.