Amroha clocks 64.02% turnout, Mathura 49.29% Phase 2: The 12% drop in turnout in Mathura since 2019 left all guessing about the possible impact even as polling was held peacefully on all 8 West U.P. seats
Hemendra Chaturvedi and S Raju
AGRA/MEERUT : Even as an estimated voter turnout of 54.85% was recorded in the eight parliamentary constituencies of West Uttar Pradesh, the 12% drop in the polling figure in Mathura from 61.03% in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections to 49.29% in the second phase of the 2024 parliamentary polls on Friday may have upset political calculations and left all guessing.
Among other seats, 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, 53 % in Gautam Buddh Nagar, 49.65% in Ghaziabad, according to Election Commission figures.
Besides Hema Malini who is seeking a hattrick of wins from Mathura, the 91 candidates in the fray in the second phase include Ramayan fame actor
Arun Govil (BJP) in Meerut, former Union minister Mahesh Sharma in Gautam Buddh Nagar and Congress candidate Danish Ali in Amroha.
Govil is pitted against INDIA bloc candidate and former mayor Sunita Verma of the Samajawadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party’s Devvrat Tyagi.
In Amroha, Danish Ali (Congress) is pitted against former MP Kanwar Singh Tanwar of the BJP and the BSP’s Mujahid Hussain. There are more than 1.67 crore voters, 7,797 polling stations and 17,704 polling booths in these eight parliamentary constituencies where elaborate security arrangements were made with deployment of police along with paramilitary forces to ensure peaceful polling.
Barring a few complaints of electronic voting machines (EVMs) malfunctioning, delay in polling in some places and minor confrontation with police, polling was held peacefully.
Back in Mathura, Opposition leaders, including Bahujan Samaj Party zonal coordinator Gore Lal, saw the sharp fall in turnout as an encouraging sign for them.
“Supporters of the BJP opted for other candidates while many chose to sit back,” Gore Lal claimed. However, veteran journalist Chandra Prakash Sikarwar disagreed and said that the Opposition was so weak that there was no worry for the BJP candidate. Those who opted not to vote were not her voters, he said. “The BJP’s winning margin is going to increase this time because of weak candidates. The Congress could not manage a good candidate and had to settle with a corporator level leader while the BSP candidate has RSS background,” Sikarwar said.
On the other hand, Congress state general secretary Anil Yadav said the 12 % fall in vote can never be overlooked by the sitting MP.
“The voters otherwise loyal to BJP were discontented and the majority sat back at home. Voting has been best in Baldev assembly segment, dominated by Scheduled Caste and backward voters who opted for INDIA alliance candidate. The floating vote, otherwise going to the BJP, has abandoned it this time,” Yadav said.
Captain Malik, who is looking after Hema Malini’s campaign, was least worried by the fall in polling percentage.
“The anti-BJP voter could not find a suitable candidate and thus sat back. Thus, the margin of Hemaji’s win will only increase,” Malik said.
Polling began on a slow note in the constituency and could not gather pace all through the day. The turnout was 10.09% till 9am, 23.07% till 11am, 32.70% by 1pm, 39.40 % by 3pm, 46.96% by 5pm and 49.29% later.
Polling was even more sluggish in the urban pockets as Mathura city recorded 43.95% turnout till 5pm. Even by 3pm, the Baldev assembly segment in rural Mathura had a higher polling percentage (49.37).
Elsewhere, Congress’s Amroha candidate Danish Ali had an argument with police over him talking on his mobile phone inside the booth.
“Ban on mobile (phone) was for voters and not candidates,” he explained to to an officer and asked him to enquire about the rule. He also accused the police of harassing voters to prevent them from voting at some booths.
Meanwhile, villagers boycotted polling at Jhundi Maafi in Amroha as they were upset over waterlogging on the approach road to the village.
Only 75 voters turned up to exercise their franchise at the Jat-dominated Dhikauli village in Baghpat by 12 noon. While a few attributed this to indifference of voters, others claimed farmers were busy due to the wheat harvest season.
Malfunctioning of EVMs was also reported from booth number 279 at Sisana village, booth number 262 at Khaprana village, booth number 222 at Jain inter college of Khekra and booth number 119 at Asaara village of Baghpat constituency.
Poll officials said the complaints were immediately taken note of and resolved.
Bahujan Samaj Party candidate Suresh Singh cast his vote with his family in Mathura . Congress candidate Mukesh Dhangar too exercised his franchise. Former Uttar Pradesh energy minister Shrikant Sharma also cast his vote in Mathura.
There were reports of a minor clash between Congress and BJP supporters at a polling booth at a primary school in Dampere Nagar in Mathura towards the end of polling. Police reached the spot to pacify the protestors.
In Aligarh, BJP’s Hathras candidate and UP minister Anup Valmiki and his wife exercised their franchise. Another minister Sandeep Singh, grandson of former U.P. chief minister and ex-Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh governor the late Kalyan Singh, voted at Madholi village in Aligarh district’s Atrauli.
RLD president Jayant Chaudhary along with his wife Charu Chaudhary turned up at a booth in Mathura to cast their votes.
In Ghaziabad, Union minister General (retd) V K Singh cast his vote in the morning. Singh, the current BJP MP from Ghaziabad, had announced not to contest the elections this time.