Uttar Pradesh completed its second phase of voting out of seven phases on February 14. The turnout was 63.3% until 5 PM in the 55 constituencies spread over nine districts, around two percent less than in 2017.
Amorpha recorded the highest voter turnout at 71.63%, with Saharanpur coming in second place with 71.15%. Six seats in Shahjanpur recorded the lowest turnout in the second phase at 55.85%.
Overall, all districts polled lower than in previous elections, but Shahajahanpur recorded a maximum decline of five percent.
The nine districts– Saharanpur, Bijnor, Rampur, Sambhal, Amorha, Moradabad, Budaun, Bareilly, and Shahjahanpur– are considered to be Samajwadi Party strongholds.
These districts have a sizeable Muslim population influenced by religious leaders of Barelvi and Deoband sects. Prominent political leaders fielded from these seats included Khan from his stronghold of Rampur, Khanna from Shahjahanpur, and Saini tried his luck from the Naked seat.
Dharam Singh Saini switched to SP from BJP after the polls. The Opposition Samajwadi Party (SP) alleged that the choice of one of its voters in Saharanpur incorrectly got registered for the BJP.
However, Additional Chief Election Officer Brahma Dev Ram Tiwari said teams visited the booth concerned and found no truth in the matter. He said the Election Commission also took note of another complaint that members of the Yadav community were not allowed to cast their votes.
The polling body also found no truth in BJP leader JPS Rathore’s allegation of fake voting by burqa-clad women, the official said. “A report has been sought from the district magistrate,” Tiwari added.
Among the prominent candidates of the ruling party who were in the fray in this phase were Minister of State (MoS) for Jal Shakti Baldev Singh Aulakh (Bilaspur), MoS Secondary Education
Gulabo Devi (Chandausi), state Finance Minister Suresh Khanna (Shahjahanpur), and MoS Urban Development Mahesh Chandra Gupta (Badaun).
The heavyweights on the SP list included former minister Azam Khan who was up against the Congress’ Kazim Ali Khan and the BJP’s Akash Saxena in Rampur. His son Abdullah Azam Khan faced Kazim Ali Khan’s son Haider Ali Khan in SuarStar.
Haider was given a Congress ticket, but he chose to contest for BJP ally Apna Dal (Sonal).
The other influential SP candidates in the fray were Zia-ur-Rahman Barq in Kundarki, former Cabinet minister Dharm Singh Saini in Nakur, and former Bareilly Mayor Supriya Aron in the Bareilly Cantonment constituency.
Of the 55 seats that were at stake in the second phase, the BJP had won 38 in the last election while the SP managed to bag 15 and the Congress two. Ten of the SP’s victorious candidates were Muslims.
The SP-Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) alliance will look to make gains in this phase this time around, given the sizeable Muslim population in the constituencies that went to the polls.
Meanwhile, campaigning for the third phase continued today. The voting for the third phase will take place on February 20, and the counting of votes will be held on March 10.
Published By: Jaspreet Singh
Edited By: Kritika Kashyap
