After an initial lull, polling picked up quickly after midday as the weather cleared with over 55% of the 1.7 crore-strong electorate exercising its franchise, state election officials said.
Polling for the first phase of high-voltage Uttar Pradesh assembly elections today recorded a moderate 55% turnout on an incident-free day after a sluggish start due to rain, with Mayawati's ruling BSP facing a tough challenge from Congress, BJP and SP.
After an initial lull, polling picked up quickly after midday as the weather cleared with over 55% of the 1.7 crore-strong electorate, which included 70 lakh women, exercising its franchise, state election officials said.
Polling was held in 55 constituencies spread over 10 districts -- Sitapur, Barabanki, Faizabad, Ambedkar Nagar, Bahraich, Shravasti, Balrampur, Gonda, Siddharth Nagar and Basti amidst tight security arrangements. The candidates include 796 men, 65 women and one eunuch.
The first phase of elections for the 403-member assembly will seal the fate of two ministers, 31 MLAs and 15 former ministers.
Long queues of voters were seen at polling booths in several areas in late afternoon. "The biggest problem was that of rain in the initial hours, but later the response from the electorate was good," Chief Electoral Officer Umesh Sinha said.
Amidst complaints of EVM malfunctioning, a lower turnout was registered in Bahraich district, while in Sitapur, where people boycotted polling in Gularia village in Misrikh assembly seat to protest lack of development, officials said.
In Gonda, nearly 800 voters boycotted poll process at booth number 34 in Mehnaun assembly seat to protest shifting of the polling station three kilometres away from the village.
The remaining phases of polling will be held on February 11, 15, 19, 23, 28 and March 3. Counting of votes will take place on March 6.
Polling also picked up in Faizabad in late afternoon where over 55% electorate cast their ballot as compared to 30% in the first four hours.
In Ayodhya, voting crossed the 50% mark till 3pm. Balrampur and Siddharth Nagar district witnessed a lower than average voting.
Heavy rain played a spoilsport in Basni Assembly seat in Siddharth Nagar with not a single vote being cast in the first two hours, officials said.
Stakes are high for ruling BSP, Congress, SP and the BJP in the no-holds-barred fight. Today's polling would decide the future of cabinet minister Lalji Verma, minister of state Sangram Singh Verma, besides relatives of several MPs.
It would be a litmus test for Congress leaders, including Union Steel Minister Beni Prasad Verma and National Commission for Scheduled Caste Chairman PL Punia as both of them represent the areas where voting took place.
While Gonda MP Verma's prestige would be at stake not only in seven Assembly constituencies of his parliamentary area but also in Barabanki with his son Rakesh Verma contesting from Dariyabad seat there.
Barabanki MP Punia's dalit card and influence in the area would also be under keen observation in six seats of his area.
Both Verma, known for his say in Kurmi vote bank and Punia, Dalit face of Congress would have the herculean task of ensuring maximum number of seats for the Congress, which had secured only three of the 55 seats in 2007 Assembly polls.
BSP has a strength of 220 seats in the outgoing House followed by SP with 89, BJP 48, Congress 20, RLD 10 and nine independents among others.
In the 2007 Assembly polls, BSP had bagged 30 of the 55 seats where elections were held today and it would a touch challenge for the party, hit by controversies due to corruption cases, to retain the numbers.
Samajwadi Party is also under pressure to perform in these area to increase its tally from 18 seats in the last Assembly polls.
As far as BJP, which has talked about "Ramrajya", is concerned despite Faizabad and Ayodhya falling in this phase, the party's performance had not been upto the mark in past elections.
In 2007, BJP had succeeded in winning in four seats only. This time party leaders Rajnath Singh and Kalraj Mishra had taken out yatras, which culminated in Ayodhya with a rally to muster support for the party but it had not generated much enthusiasm among voters especially post-Babu Singh Kushwaha episode.
Congress, which had won a meagre three seats in the last polls, is banking on charisma of party General Secretary Rahul Gandhi, who had covered various constituencies in Bahraich, Gonda, Barabanki, Sitapur and Basti districts during his visits and held a series of public meetings.
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