Lacklustre turnout in UP; Rajasthan shows marginal improvement

Neeraj Mohan

New Delhi, April 26

Amid reports of election boycotts in some villages and complaints of EVM glitches, the second phase of voting in Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan yielded a disappointing voter turnout of 54.85 per cent and 64.07 per cent respectively till the filing of this report.

However, the Election Commission of India has made it clear that the final figures would be released only after the compilation of the final data from all polling booths. During the first phase also, both the states’ performance was lacklustre.

As per the latest figures of ECI, the voter turnout in the second phase encompassing the remaining 13 seats of Rajasthan has witnessed a slight uptick in voter participation compared to the first phase. In the second phase, voting for the 13 seats was recorded at 64.07 per cent while the voting for 12 seats of the first phase saw a turnout of 57.65 per cent.

As per the latest data released by ECI, with average 54.85 per cent turnout, Uttar Pradesh witnessed a dip against the average voter turnout of 61.11 per cent across eight constituencies during its first phase.

Initial reports suggest the scorching heat, technical glitches in EVMs and boycott of poll in villages of Uttar Pradesh’s Mathura and Baghpat and Rajasthan’s Banswara as key factors behind the poor polling.

As per the figures revealed by the Election Commission of India, in Rajasthan, the highest voter turnout of 71.55 per cent was recorded in Barmer constituency which is witnessing a tough triangular contest between BJP’s sitting MP Kailash Chaudhary, Ummedh Ram Beniwal of Congress and Independent Ravinder Singh Bhati.

While 70.82 per cent voter turnout was recorded in Kota constituency where Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla is facing a tough contest from Prahlad Gunjal, a Gujjar strongman and former BJP member who recently joined the Congress, Banswara (reserved) constituency recorded 70.20 per cent voter turnout.

In Uttar Pradesh, the average voter turnout at eight Lok Sabha constituencies was 54.85 per cent, according to the latest figures provided by the Election Commission till the filing of this report.

The lowest voter turnout of 49.29 per cent was recorded in Mathura constituency from where veteran Bollywood actress and sitting MP Hema Malini is seeking a third term.

Only 49.65 per cent voters exercised their franchise in Ghaziabad constituency where the BJP has fielded Atul Garg, replacing two-term MP and Union Minister General VK Singh. Garg is facing a triangular contest from Dolly Sharma of Congress and Nand Kishor Pundir of the BSP.