UP polls: Record turnout continues in second phase
Over 60 per cent exercise their franchise in four districts with slightly less in the other five
An estimated over 59 per cent electorate exercised their franchise in the second phase of Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections on Saturday amidst tight security arrangements, according to state election officials here.
The turn out was impressive and was over 60 per cent in four districts while it was a little less in the remaining five districts, Chief Electoral Officer Umesh Sinha told reporters here after the polling.
In the first phase about 63 per cent voters had exercised their franchise. No major incident was reported from anywhere during the polling, which was by and large peaceful, he added.
According to reports the police had to make a lathi charge in Mau district after some miscreants tried to create trouble.
The police also used mild force to disperse an unruly mob in Ballia district, reports said.
Polling was held on 59 Assembly seats spread over nine districts of the state in the second phase.
An interesting feature of the polling this time was the negative voting by the electorate at some places.
Over a dozen people exercised their right to reject at a polling booth in Kushinagar district, officials said. At a polling booth in Gorakhpur too, some electorate exercised the right to reject.
They said that they did not find any one fit to be supported. At some places people boycotted the polling in protest against lack of development in their areas.
The second phase is likely to witness a keen fight between the BSP and Samajwadi Party and will also test the Congress’s star campaigner Rahul Gandhi.
The districts where polls were held on Saturday included Azamgarh, Gorakhpur, Maharajganj, Sant Kabir Nagar, Mau, Ghazipur, Ballia, Deoria and Kushinagar. The second phase will decide the fate of state BJP chief Surya Pratap Shahi, BSP state president Swami Prasad Maurya and the UP Assembly speaker Sukhdeo Rajbhar.
The stakes are huge for Mayawati, whose party had bagged 29 seats in the previous Assembly polls.
The SP had finished second with 19 seats. BJP had secured eight seats while the Congress could win only two seats.
