Punjab, on Sunday, witnessed a voter turnout of 4.80 per cent till 9 am, while the corresponding number in Uttar Pradesh stood at 8.15 per cent. Voting for the third phase of Uttar Pradesh assembly elections, in 59 assembly seats, began at 7 am on Sunday, while polling in Punjab started at 8 am.

Voting for 117 Assembly seats in Punjab was underway amid tight security arrangements.

Polling started at 8 am and will continue till 6 pm.

A total of 1,304 candidates, including 93 women and two transgenders, are in the fray for the high-stake electoral contest.

The counting of votes will take place on March 10.

Among many places, Amritsar recorded a voter turnout of 4.14 per cent till 9 am, Barnala 6.70 per cent, Fatehgarh Sahib 6.94 percent, Fazilka 6.61 per cent, Malerkotla 8.01 per cent and Muktsar 6.21 per cent.

Queues of voters could be seen at the polling stations in the morning. Many youngsters were exercising their franchise for the first time.

Among those who voted in the morning included state ministers Amarinder Singh Raja Warring, Manpreet Singh Badal, Pargat Singh and Vijay Inder Singla, Congress leader Partap Singh Bajwa and Punjab BJP chief Ashwani Sharma.

With Punjab going to polls on Sunday, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi urged people of the state to vote for the one who supports them and answers fearlessly.

He also urged voters in Uttar Pradesh, where polling is taking place for the third phase, to vote for development, and said a new future will be laid out with the formation of a new government.

Voting for 117 Assembly seats in Punjab is taking place while polling is also underway in 59 Assembly constituencies spread across 16 districts of Uttar Pradesh.

"Give your vote to the one who supports people, answers fearlessly," Gandhi said in a tweet in Hindi.

"Vote for the progressive future of Punjab," he said.

AAP's chief ministerial face Bhagwant Mann exercised his franchise in Mohali.

Mann appealed to people to come out in large numbers to cast their votes.

Former Congress chief Sunil Jakhar could be seen standing in a queue to cast his vote at a polling station in Abohar.

People were given masks, gloves and their hands were sanitised at the polling booths.

In the morning, Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi paid obeisance at religious places at his home constituency Chamkaur Sahib.

There are 2,14,99,804 voters, including 1,02,00,996 women.

Punjab Chief Electoral Officer S Karuna Raju said there are 24,740 polling stations, of which 2,013 have been identified as critical and 2,952 as vulnerable.

The state is witnessing a multi-cornered contest among the Congress, AAP, SAD-BSP, BJP-PLC-SAD (Sanyukt) and the Sanyukt Samaj Morcha (SSM), a political front of various farmer bodies.

The Shiromani Akali Dal is contesting the polls in alliance with the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP).

The BJP is fighting the elections in alliance with Amarinder Singh-led Punjab Lok Congress and Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa-led SAD (Sanyukt).

The SSM is contesting the polls with Haryana Bharatiya Kisan Union (Chaduni) leader Gurnam Singh Chaduni-led Sanyukt Sangharsh Party.

Prominent faces in the fray include Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi, Aam Aadmi Party's chief ministerial face Bhagwant Mann, Punjab Congress president Navjot Singh Sidhu, former CMs Amarinder Singh and Parkash Singh Badal, and Shiromani Akali Dal chief Sukhbir Singh Badal.

Former chief minister Rajinder Kaur Bhattal, Punjab BJP chief Ashwani Sharma and former Union minister Vijay Sampla are also in the contest.

A total of 700 companies of the central armed police force besides the state police personnel have been deployed for the peaceful conduct of the polls.

There are 196 pink polling stations for women while 70 polling stations are being managed by persons with disabilities (PwD).

Uttar Pradesh polls

As per the data shared by the Election Commission, the average polling percentage in Uttar Pradesh till 9 am was 7.62 per cent in Hathras, 9.85 per cent in Firozabad, 9.53 per cent in Kasganj, 10.16 per cent in Etah, 11.02 per cent in Mainpuri, 5.88 per cent in Farrukhabad, 10.11 per cent in Kannauj, 6.83 per cent in Etawah, 7.74 per cent in Auraiya, 6.18 per cent in Kanpur Dehat, 5.66 per cent in Kanpur Nagar, 9.53 per cent in Jalaun, 7.69 per cent in Jhansi, 9.36 per cent in Lalitpur, 9.58 per cent in Hamirpur and 8.00 per cent in Mahoba.

As many as 627 candidates are in the fray in this phase, in which over 2.15 crore people are eligible to vote.

The districts where polling is being held are Hathras, Firozabad, Etah, Kasganj, Mainpuri, Farrukhabad, Kannauj, Etawah, Auraiya, Kanpur Dehat, Kanpur Nagar, Jalaun, Jhansi, Lalitpur, Hamirpur and Mahoba.

The Karhal assembly seat, from where Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav is contesting, is also going to the polls in this phase. The BJP has fielded Union minister S P Singh Baghel from the seat.

Sunday's polling will also seal the fate of the Samajwadi Party chief's uncle Shivpal Singh Yadav, who is contesting from his traditional Jaswantnagar seat.

Before the campaigning ended for the third phase on Friday, Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra undertook a door-to-door march in Kanpur, Kalpi, Jalaun and Hamirpur, while BSP chief Mayawati addressed election meetings in Jalaun and Auraiya.

Samajwadi Party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav sought votes for his son Akhilesh Yadav in Karhal.

The BJP had approached the Election Commission seeking deployment of paramilitary forces at all booths in Karhal.

Among other prominent faces in the fray in this phase are BJP's Satish Mahana (Maharajpur in Kanpur) and Ramvir Upadhaya (Sadabad in Hathras), and Louise Khurshid, who is contesting on the Congress ticket from Farrukhabad Sadar.

Louise Khurshid is the wife of senior Congress leader Salman Khurshid.

Former IPS officer Asim Arun is contesting from Kannauj Sadar on the BJP ticket while Uttar Pradesh minister Ramnaresh Agnihotri is also in the fray in this phase.

In the 2017 Assembly elections, the BJP had won 49 of the 59 seats while the SP had settled for nine. The Congress had got one seat while the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) drew a blank.

The 2022 assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh will be held in seven phases. The results are scheduled to be announced on March 10.