<p>Voting picked up in the afternoon in most of the 14 Lok Sabha constituencies in Uttar Pradesh where polling was underway Wednesday.<br /><br />Officials said 36 percent of the electorate had voted by afternoon.</p>.<p><br />Balloting in Lucknow was brisk since morning and touched 22.5 percent by noon that could lead to a record turnout, officials told IANS.<br /><br />In the 2009 general elections, only 35 percent of the electorate had cast their votes.<br />This time, however, hundreds of voters were seen standing at polling stations, braving the scorching sun.<br /><br />Heavy polling has been reported in Kanpur where Bharatiya Janata Party's senior leader Murli Manohar Joshi and Union Coal Minister Prakash Jaiswal are locked in a direct contest.<br />Joshi told reporters that he was happy that people were turning out in large numbers to vote. He said voters in Kanpur had decided to reject the Congress.<br /><br />Officials told IANS that they had received complaints from Navva behad polling station that SP workers intimidated voters, forcing them to vote for their party. When a paramilitary trooper intervened, he was thrashed by Samajwadi Party workers.<br /><br />In five villages, including Purwa Panwari, Dariyapur and Rigvana Khurd in Hamirpur district, voters boycotted the polls and not a single vote was cast.<br /><br />District officials tried to persuade them, but the residents did not relent.<br /></p>
<p>Voting picked up in the afternoon in most of the 14 Lok Sabha constituencies in Uttar Pradesh where polling was underway Wednesday.<br /><br />Officials said 36 percent of the electorate had voted by afternoon.</p>.<p><br />Balloting in Lucknow was brisk since morning and touched 22.5 percent by noon that could lead to a record turnout, officials told IANS.<br /><br />In the 2009 general elections, only 35 percent of the electorate had cast their votes.<br />This time, however, hundreds of voters were seen standing at polling stations, braving the scorching sun.<br /><br />Heavy polling has been reported in Kanpur where Bharatiya Janata Party's senior leader Murli Manohar Joshi and Union Coal Minister Prakash Jaiswal are locked in a direct contest.<br />Joshi told reporters that he was happy that people were turning out in large numbers to vote. He said voters in Kanpur had decided to reject the Congress.<br /><br />Officials told IANS that they had received complaints from Navva behad polling station that SP workers intimidated voters, forcing them to vote for their party. When a paramilitary trooper intervened, he was thrashed by Samajwadi Party workers.<br /><br />In five villages, including Purwa Panwari, Dariyapur and Rigvana Khurd in Hamirpur district, voters boycotted the polls and not a single vote was cast.<br /><br />District officials tried to persuade them, but the residents did not relent.<br /></p>