LUCKNOW, 14 April 2007 — Millions of voters exercised their right to franchise in the second phase of polling in 58 constituencies spread over 10 districts of Uttar Pradesh yesterday. Barring a few minor incidents, there was no report of any violence from anywhere in the state.
About 16.4 million people, including 7.4 million women, were eligible to vote yesterday. Uttar Pradesh is India’s most populous and politically most crucial state and elects 403 legislators. A total of 881 candidates were in the fray in this phase. Only 294 of these belonged to recognized parties. The others were independents. The contestants included 50 women.
In all 18,400 Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) were in place at 15,887 polling booths set up across Aligarh, Meerut, Mathura, Ghaziabad, Gautambudh Nagar (Noida), Muzaffarnagar, Bulandshahr, Saharanpur, Hathras and Baghpat, largely in the vicinity of New Delhi.
About 45 percent of 16.4 million people voted during the second leg of staggered elections whose outcome is bound have its impact on national politics. An exit poll held after the second phase of elections yesterday predicted a hung assembly with the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and ruling Samajwadi Party running neck and neck.
The poll conducted by NDTV projected the BSP emerging as the single largest party with seats between 115-125, while Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav’s party was likely to bag 110-120 seats in the 403-member assembly. It projected the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to be following closely with 95-105 seats. The Congress party will get 35-45 seats. Others would win 20-30 seats, it said.
With thousands of paramilitary forces deployed in the 10 otherwise volatile districts, officials heaved a happy sigh of relief when the 10-hour exercise was over at 5 p.m. with not a single reported case of violence. “Everything has gone off very smoothly,” Election Commission official Anuj Kumar Bishnoi said in Lucknow, reporting 45-46 percent voting in the 50 constituencies that went to the polls in the second of seven-phased balloting.
However, in Sisauli in Muzaffarnagar district, Bharti Kisan Union (BKU) leader Mahendra Singh Tikait and his supporters had a scuffle with the security personnel. A presiding officer and a polling agent were arrested in Meerut after detection of some irregularities at Kharkhaunda assembly seat. As elsewhere in the state, the main contestants for power in these districts are the SP, BSP, BJP, Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) and the Congress.
Although a hung verdict is widely expected, the fight is to see who finishes on top — and thus gets the first chance a form a government.
Most pundits believe that former Chief Minister Mayawati’s BSP has emerged as a strong contender in this western belt, even in areas dominated by Jats, who have traditionally voted for Ajit Singh’s RDL.
The month-long Uttar Pradesh elections got underway May 7. The first round of polling, involving 62 constituencies in the southern part of the sprawling state and its poorest region, also saw about 45 percent polling.
Yesterday, millions of men and women queued up at polling booths in towns and rural areas, with fear of the paramilitary forces keeping at bay thugs who play a nefarious role during elections in the 10 districts.
