Moderate turnout in UP bypolls, both BJP, Samajwadi Party claim victory (Evening Lead)

Over 53 percent of voters cast their ballot in bypolls to one Lok Sabha and 11 assembly constituencies in Uttar Pradesh Saturday.

The Election Commission said that till 5 p.m., 53.2 percent voting had taken place.

Bypolls took place in Noida, Lucknow (East), Charkhari, Sirathu, Balha, Rohania, Nighasan, Saharanpur city, Bijnore, Thakurdwara and Hamirpur assembly constituencies.

The maximum voting was recorded in Thakurdwara assembly constituency in Moradabad while Noida, neighbouring Delhi, polled only 31 percent votes.

The Lucknow (East) assembly seat saw 34 percent polling.

In the sole parliamentary seat of Mainpuri, that went for the bypolls, 56.4 percent voting was recorded.

Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav held this seat thrice and now his grandnephew Tej Pratap Singh is contesting from here.

Mulayam Singh resigned from Mainpuri and retained Azamgarh, the other parliamentary seat he had won.

Polling was by and large peaceful, though at a polling booth in Saharanpur, supporters of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress clashed following which a person suffered a heart attack and died.

Officials rushed to the spot, pacified the people and took the body for post-mortem examination.

In another incident, BJP's ally Apna Dal MP Anupriya Patel and Samakwadi Party supporters were engaged in a verbal spat at a polling booth in Rohania.

Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Saturday said his party will sweep the bypolls and will win the Mainpuri Lok Sabha and all the 11 assembly seats.

In all, 3,820 micro-observers were deployed across the 5,939 polling booths of which 1,920 were declared sensitive.

The BJP also claimed it would sweep the polls and retain all the 11 assembly seats along with its ally Apna Dal.

State BJP president Laxmikant Bajpayi said the party will stun the Samajwadi Party by wresting the Mainpuri Lok Sabha seat from it.