Intrigue as turnouts in 8 seats much lower than 2019
LUCKNOW: Eight seats in Uttar Pradesh that went to the polls on Friday recorded a turnout of 54.85%, roughly seven percentage points lower than the 62% in 2019, according to provisional data by the Election Commission of India (ECI) at 9pm.
The lowest turnouts were recorded in Mathura, with 49.29% and Ghaziabad, with 49.65%.
64.02% polling was recorded in Amroha, followed by 58.70% in Meerut, 56.62% in Aligarh, 55.97% in Baghpat, 55.79% in Bulandshahr
and 53% in Gautam Buddh Nagar, according to ECI.
In the 2019 polls, Mathura saw a turnout of 61%, while this figure was 55.9% in Ghaziabad. Amroha, meanwhile, saw a turnout of 71% in 2019, while this figure stood at 64.3% in Meerut, 61.6% in Aligarh, 64.6% in Baghpat, 62.9% in Bulandshahr and 60.5% in GB Nagar.
The lower voter turnout on Friday mirrored a similar trend during the first phase of the polls on April 19, when eight seats from the state voted. The state’s turnout in the first phase was 60.25%, lower than the 66.50% recorded in 2019.
The decline in turnout sparked claims and counter-claims.
Uttar Pradesh Jal Shakti minister Swatantra Dev Singh and minister of state for cooperation JPS Rathore said the voting trends in favour of the BJP during the first phase were further strengthened in the second phase.
Deputy chief minister Brajesh Pathak said the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) ensured that its supporters cast their votes whereas the Opposition parties failed to motivate their supporters, leading to a decline in the turnout. But the Opposition hit back. In a post on X, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav said a strange trend was observed throughout the day in the second phase in which the number of voters from all communities and classes supporting the INDIA bloc kept on increasing at every booth. On the other hand, the number of BJP voters kept on decreasing, he said.
“.... In all the constituencies, there was a lot of excitement among the people to vote for change. The way voting happened in the first and second phases, it is very clear that the candidates of the INDIA alliance are winning by a good majority,” said UP Congress in-charge Avinash Pande.
RLD chief Jayant Chaudhary said the NDA set a target of winning all 80 LS seats in UP. “It is an ambitious target.. We are working hard and getting the support of voters in both phases of polling,” he said.