Lucknow, Feb 15 (IANS): Over 40 per cent voting was recorded in the second phase of polling in Uttar Pradesh till afternoon on Wednesday.

Maximum voting was reported from Saharanpur and Lakhimpur Kheri where voting crossed 42 per cent till 1 p.m.

In the same time, voting in Bareilly crossed 39 per cent, while brisk voting in the early hours in Moradabad ensured 41 per cent polling.

In Shahjahanpur, polling was at 39 per cent, while in Pilibhit, the parliamentary constituency of Union Minister Maneka Gandhi, it was at 42.

Barring some places where Electronic Voting Machines developed some snags, polling was smooth and peaceful in most of the 67 assembly constituencies across 11 districts.

Polling began on Wednesday morning amid tight security at 7 a.m.

The fate of 721 candidates is to be sealed by 2.28 crore voters, of whom a sizable number (47.72 lakh) are the youths aged 18-19 years.

Chief Electoral Officer T. Venkatesh said that 2,983 of the total 23,695 polling booths were identified as sensitive and security was scaled up there.

Long queues of women, differently-abled and elderly voters were seen in most parts outside the poll booths.

In the 2012 assembly polls, the average polling in these constituencies was 64 per cent.