In UP, voter turnout fell as polls progressed

Uttar Pradesh has charted a downward voting graph in successive phases of Lok Sabha polling.

The polling, spread over six phases, was held between April 10 and May 12 in the state.

The polling percentage was the highest in the first phase and lowest in the last phase, at 64.38 per cent and 54.21 per cent respectively.

The riot-hit western UP constituencies that went to the polls in the first phase reported highest polling.

There had been polarisation of votes in western UP following communal riots in Muzaffarnagar last year. The trouble had later spread to Saharanpur, Kairana, Meerut and Baghpat.

“Since, western UP has a significant Muslim population, there was intense polarisation among the minorities to stop the march of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP),” political commentator and Lucknow University professor Sudhir Panwar told Business Standard.

He further said initial euphoria about the polls also started to wear off as polling advanced. Rising mercury is also believed to be a potent factor for lower polling percentage in subsequent phases.

Congress leader and legislator Akhilesh Pratap Singh noted that there could be several factors for successive drop in polling percentage, including heat, polarisation, long stretched polling etc.

“It was a long poll schedule with a bad weather. At some places, the electorates got disenchanted with the candidates resulting in low voting,” he added.

Meanwhile, over 80 million voters out of 138.8 million registered electorates exercised their franchise in UP. A total of 1,288 candidates were in fray, including 125 women.