Low turnout, Amethi no better

The fifth phase of polling in Uttar Pradesh took place today minus any incident. Forty-six per cent of the electorate turned out to exercise their franchise for 57 seats in nine districts.

The fifth phase of polling in Uttar Pradesh took place today minus any incident. Forty-six per cent of the electorate turned out to exercise their franchise for 57 seats in nine districts. The turnout was 7 per cent less as compared to the figures for the 2002 Assembly elections in the same areas.

In areas where votes were expected to be decided by diktats —- be it of the controversial Raghuraj Pratap Singh alias Raja Bhaiyya or local dacoits —- the turnout was even lower. While only 34 per cent turned out to vote in Raja Bhaiyya’s Kunda, in Patti, where the brother of dreaded dacoit Dadua, Bal Kumar Patel, is in the fray, only 40 per cent cast their ballot. Similar was the scene in dacoit-dominated Banda, which witnessed a 39 per cent turnout.

The highest turnout of 50 per cent was recorded in Unnao. But all the Gandhi family got in return for their sweat and hard work was 45 per cent voting in Amethi and Rae Bareli.

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At Karvi in Chitrakoot, the figure hovered around the 40 per cent mark. Election was postponed at Khaga in Fatehpur district following the death of Congress candidate Munna Lal Maurya.

However, Raja Bhaiyya himself look pleased. For while the turnout in Kunda overall remained low, in his village of Beti, people turned out in strength to vote.

From early morning, there was a long queue of voters at the local primary school. Even the scorching sun and the temperature hovering between 42 and 45 degrees Celsius could not keep Bhaiyya’s supporters away. As for the other parties, in several booths here, the polling agents of Bhaiyya’s main rivals could not even be found.

While most of the voters refused to speak to journalists, those who did claimed that the huge turnout was nothing new. “This is a tradition here. On polling day, the villagers keep themselves free of any other work. Raja saheb ki baat hai. Ek-adh bigha khet hai, ek din nahin hi gaye to kya hua (It is for Raja saheb after all. We have a bigha or two of land… what difference will a day’s absence make)?” said Ram Murat Yadav.

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A cheer went up as Bhaiyya himself came to vote in his Mitsubishi around 10.45 am. Many voters forgot all about the serpentine queue they were standing in and dropped at Bhaiyya’s feet.

The visibly happy Independent candidate promised reporters that he would win this election by a larger margin of votes than before. He was also confident that the Samajwadi Party would form the government in the state. “Sarkar nahin bani to hum log jail jayenge. Yeh to BSP ke ghoshna patra mein hain. Mulayam, Raja aur Amar Singh ko jail jana hai (If we don’t form a government, we will go to jail. The BSP has said so),” Bhaiyya added in a lighter vein.