The voter turnout in the third phase of the 2017 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections was slightly lower than the first two phases but an improvement from the figure for the corresponding phase in the last election.
The 12 districts that voted on Sunday recorded a provisional turnout of 61.16 % till 5 p.m. against the 59.96 % in 2012, when the Samajwadi Party swept the State with a majority.
In the first and second phases of the election, covering west and north-west U.P. (Rohilkhand), the State recorded 64.2% and 65.5% respectively.
The SP, which won 55 out of 69 seats in these districts in 2012, has all at stake in this phase.
Given that the constituencies include the Yadav family’s traditional strongholds — Etawah, Mainpuri, Etawah-Kannauj — it is also a battle of prestige for Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav’s party. If district-wise voting is to be analysed, Sitapur recorded the highest average turnout with 68.49%.
Three constituencies in the district, Mahoodabad, Biswan and Hargaon, recorded over 71% polling.
Sitapur was followed by Barabanki (66.96), Kannauj (62.88) and Kanpur Dehat districts (62.17).
Lowest average turnout
Kanpur district, which has as many as 10 seats, saw the lowest average turnout at 56.42%, while the State capital Lucknow did marginally better at 58.68. The two districts are largely urban, thus putting to test Mr. Yadav’s development model as well as measure the electoral impact of demonetisation. In the last election, the SP won 12 out of the 19 seats in these two centres.
Three hotly contested seats in Lucknow saw significant increase in voting percentage.
If Lucknow West recorded a jump from 49.48% to 55.98, the polling in Lucknow North, where SP Minister Abhishek Mishra is facing a challenge from the BJP’s Niraj Vora, increased from 50.26 to 56.9.
The tightly-locked Lucknow Central seat, too, saw a rise in voting, from 50.98% to 52.98.
SP Minister and incumbent MLA Ravidas Mehrotra is faced with added obstacles in this constituency as the Congress State general secretary Maruf Khan is also in the fray after he refused to withdraw his nomination. The two are pitted against former MP Brijesh Pathak, who switched from the BSP to the BJP last year.
Lucknow Cantonment recorded the lowest turnout of 50.98%. Incumbent Rita Bahuguna Joshi, who rebelled against the Congress and is now fighting as a BJP candidate, faces a tough challenge from debutant Aparna Yadav, the younger daughter-in-law of Mulayam Singh.
The SP’s family prestige is also at stake in Kannauj, the Lok Sabha seat of Dimple Yadav, wife of Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav. The SP holds all three seats in the district known for its perfume and potatoes. Kannauj Sadar, a reserved seat, witnessed a huge jump in voting from 57.28 in 2012 to 64.28.
In Etawah’s Jaswantnagar, Mr. Akhilesh’s uncle Shivpal Yadav is fighting a battle of pride. The seat saw a marginal dip in turnout, from 64.21 in 2012 to 63.20.
The third phase is also a test of the outcome of the Yadav family feud.
Mr. Akhilesh denied ticket to many sitting MLAs close to Mr. Shivpal and Mr. Mulayam Singh.
At a recent rally in Etawah, in a veiled attack on his uncle, he urged voters to teach him a lesson for creating a rift between him and his father. Mr. Akhilesh has also not campaigned for Mr. Shivpal.
“We were ahead in the first two phases. I am confident we will be ahead in the third phase also,” Mr. Akhilesh said after casting his vote in Saifai, the ancestral village of the Yadavs.
In the last elections, the Congress won only two seats in this phase, while the SP’s key opponents, the BSP and the BJP also performed poorly, winning six and five seats respectively.
BSP chief Mayawati exuded confidence that her party was ahead in this phase. “The BSP is set to win at least 300 seats and form the government. People in U.P. are fed up with the SP’s goondaraj and want change,” she said, after casting her vote in Lucknow.
Former UP CM and Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh also cast his vote in Lucknow. “Not only a clear majority, the BJP is winning an absolute majority,” he said.
Many of the districts in this phase also fall along the much-hyped Lucknow-Agra Expressway, a key plank of Mr. Akhilesh’s developmental model.
In another keenly watched seat, Sarojini Nagar, another member of the Yadav family, Mr. Mulayam’s nephew Anurag Yadav made his debut.
The SP’s sitting MLA and Minister Sharda Pratap Shukla was denied ticket and contested as an RLD nominee.
With 4.9 lakh voters, Sarojini Nagar is also the largest constituency in this phase.
