Rural voters in UP hold key as cities saw low turnouts

If the rural and urban divide among voters is any indicator of poll outcome, the cities in Uttar Pradesh are the main culprits in bringing the voters turnout down in the state.

Uttar Pradesh saw 59.52 per cent turnout, way below the record national average of 67.10.

A breakdown of the state's 80 seats show that voters apathy was evidence in all the major cities of the state while rural areas witnessed brisk polling.

Ghaziabad Assembly segment, a strong urban conglomerate in western Uttar Pradesh saw 53.28 per cent polling and in neighbouring urban centre of Sahibabad 49.5 per cent of voters came out to vote. Noida adjoining the national capital saw 52.35 per cent voting.

This is in sharp contrast to many rural segments of western part of the state where polling was above 70 per cent.

Khatauli Assembly segment in Muzzafarnagar saw 72.16 per cent voting. Behat Assembly segment in Saharanpur saw 73.78 per cent polling.

Among the big cities in the state, Kanpur saw a turnout of 51.48. Arya Nagar, part of Kanpur, saw only 48.63 per cent and 49.20 per cent of votes were polled in Kanpur Cantt.

Allahabad, now known as Prayagraj, saw 51.70 per cent polling. Within the city, only 40.25 per cent voted in Allahabad South.

Allahabad West, which is part of Phulpur Lok Sabha seat, saw 42.38 per cent voting and Allahabad North, also under Phulpur, was even below 40 per cent at 38.98, one of the lowest in the state.

State capital Lucknow also saw only 53.30 per cent polling with lowest being in Lucknow Cantt where only half of the voters came out.

Similar trend was witnessed in smaller cities like Bareilly where poll percentage barely crossed 50 per cent.

--IANS

gd/in