Up: In Uttar Pradesh, polling in 69 constituencies spread over 12 districts in the third phase has begun at 7 am and will continue till 5 in the evening.

The districts which will go for poll in this phase are Farrukhabad, Hardoi, Kannauj, Mainpuri, Etawah, Kanpur, Kanpur Dehat, Auraiya, Lucknow, Unnao, Sitapur and Barabanki. Sixteen thousand 681 polling centers and 25 thousand 607 polling stations have been been made for polling in this phase.

Around 2 crore 41 lakh voters, including over 1 crore 10 lakh women and 1,028 third gender will decide the political fate of 826 candidates, which includes 105 women, in the fray. The highest number of candidates are 21 in the Etawah assembly segment and lowest 3 in Hydergarh of Barabanki.

Campaigning has gained momentum for the next phases of assembly elections in the state. From various political parties their star campaigners and senior leaders are taking round of different assembly areas in order to woo voters. AIR correspondent reports that as voters in third phase are casting their vote in 12 districts, at the same time leaders and candidates are busy in campaigning for elections going to be held in next four phases. The fourth and fifth phase elections have reached its peak.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to address a rally in Fatehpur today while other senior leaders including Akhilesh Yadav, Mayawati and Rahul Gandhi will address mèetings in different places today. Despite continuous campaigning voters are not revealing their mind and waiting for their turn to vote.