LUCKNOW, 19 April 2007 — Good weather boosting their enthusiasm, about 52 percent of the electorate voted yesterday in the third leg of staggered assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh — with balloting once again being peaceful and orderly.

Election Commission officials were beaming as they reported that there was not a single complaint of fraud in the 10-hour balloting in 57 constituencies spread across 10 districts, thanks in part to the deployment of 100,000 security forces including 65,000 men and women from the paramilitary.

“We have never seen elections like this. But we do have our fingers crossed,” Chief Election Officer A.K. Bishnoi said, announcing that 52 percent of the over 15 million eligible to vote had exercised their franchise yesterday.

“The best part is there was not even one complaint of wrongdoing,” he pointed out. Many see this round as a make-or-break test for Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav, whose Samajwadi Party won 25 of the 57 seats in 2002.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) came second and third respectively with 11 and nine seats. Most seats in this round fall in the Rohilkhand region that has a large Muslim population. In Rampur, Moradabad and Bijnore districts, Muslims constitute as much as 40 percent of the population.

The Samajwadi Party, which traditionally has enjoyed the support of Muslims, is hoping to get the overwhelming backing of the community. But with pundits giving BSP solid points and a Congress rejuvenated by Rahul Gandhi’s intense campaign, the chief minister has reasons to worry. With the mercury dropping, voters turned out in large numbers during the day, unlike in the first two rounds of polling on April 7 and 13 when a killer sun kept many voters indoors who may have otherwise exercised their franchise. High voting was seen in Rampur, Moradabad and Bijnore districts.

But there were some hiccups involving missing names from voters’ list, but these were handled quickly - and in many cases to the satisfaction of those affected.

Among the 861 candidates in the fray was Mulayam Singh Yadav from Gunnaur in Budaun district. It is the second seat he is contesting after Bhartana in Etawah district, which went to the polls on April 7.

Interestingly, the voter turnout this time in Gunnaur was around 55 percent — much less than the 90 percent recorded last time. The 10 districts that saw polling also included Jyotiba Phule Nagar, Budaun, Barielly, Pilibhit, Shahjahanpur, Farukhabad and Kannauj.

Prominent among key contenders in this round were Uttar Pradesh Congress President Salman Khurshid’s wife Louise Khurshid, who is seeking reelection from Kaimganj in Farukhabad, state Urban Development and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Azam Khan, as well as D.P. Yadav, father of Vikas Yadav, an accused in the Nitish Katara murder case. The senior Yadav himself faces several criminal charges.

But when the Khurshids turned up at their polling center in Farukhabad, they found their names missing from the voters’ list. But a careful scrutiny of the Master Voters List where their names existed made officials admit the lapse.