LUCKNOW, 29 April 2007 — Forty-three percent of some 15.9 million people voted in the fifth leg of Uttar Pradesh Assembly’s staggered elections yesterday but Muslim turnout was low in most of the 57 constituencies, officials said.
After a slow start, some 32 percent of the estimated 15.9 million voters had voted by 2 p.m. in the nine districts of Hardoi, Unnao, Lucknow, Rae Bareli, Pratapgarh, Sultanpur, Fatehpur, Chitrakoot and Banda that went to the polls.
Chief Election Officer A. K. Bishnoi said the voter turnout was 43 percent, and it “could go up by another one per cent at the end of the final count.”
Officials said it was intensified security in certain violence-prone places that led to voters turning out in large numbers.
Bishnoi said it was not a low turnout and what was important was that it was an “absolutely incident-free” ballot. “Barring minor complaints, it has been a totally peaceful and smooth poll.”
The votes cast in Uttar Pradesh’s month-long election will be counted on May 11. The outcome will show who will rule India’s most populous and politically key state. Of the 850 candidates including 55 women contesting yesterday in the 57 seats in this round, as many as 115 face criminal charges.
Polling in one constituency was cancelled following the death of the Congress party candidate in a road accident.
A total of 15,492 polling stations were set up, with over 18,000 electronic voting machines. Apart from several political bigwigs including prominent state ministers, the prestige of the top leaders of India’s two leading parties — the Congress and Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) — is at stake in this phase.
These include Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) star and former Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, since the assembly seats falling under their respective parliamentary constituencies voted yesterday.
But noticeably, Vajpayee, who has not campaigned very much in Uttar Pradesh, did not vote in Lucknow yesterday. The BJP stalwart represents Lucknow in the Parliament. Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) leader Mayawati asserted yesterday that she was confident of forming a government on her own strength in Uttar Pradesh.
“BSP will form the next government in Uttar Pradesh,” the two time former chief minister told reporters shortly after casting her vote here. “And let me tell you, we will do it entirely on our own strength and not require anybody else to form our government.” BSPGeneral Secretary Satish Misra added: “The results on May 11 will spring major surprises — doomsday for (Chief Minister) Mulayam Singh Yadav and the return of Mayawati with a thumping majority.”
Mayawati was all praise for the Election Commission for ensuring a “free environment enabling voters of all classes to vote”. She, however, added: “Some more measures were required to improve things further.”
