Lucknow:
An impressive 62-64% turnout was registered during polling in the 55 districts for the first phase of the crucial Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh despite rains playing spoilsport in the morning. With this, the state now has six more phases of polling left that will span over the next 25 days, finally determining who clinches this make-or-break electoral battle.
"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.
Polling was held in the 10 districts of Sitapur, Barabanki, Faizabad, Ambedkar Nagar, Bahraich, Shravasti, Balrampur, Gonda, Siddharth Nagar and Basti amid tight security.
UP elections 2012 are mostly a Mayawati vs Rahul Gandhi battle; and the first phase is a slice of that high-stakes prestige battle. Mayawati's BSP holds 32 of the 55 seats that see voting today. In 2007, a strong anti-incumbency wave against Mulayam Singh Yadav's Samajwadi government allowed the BSP to sweep this region. It had a 32 per cent vote share. The SP's 30 per cent votes translated to only 16 seats. The Congress and BJP were nowhere in the reckoning with four and three seats.
But Rahul Gandhi's math for the region would rather look at numbers from the 2009 General Elections, when a resurgent Congress under the stewardship of Mr Gandhi won seven of the 22 parliamentary segments that make up the 55 seats voting today. The BSP got five, the SP two and the BJP none. Can the Congress storm this BSP bastion?
Mr Gandhi has scripted a strategy that aims to do just that - there is the strong wooing of the Muslim voter with the promise of the sub-quota for backward Muslims and the package for weavers; there is the promotion of Gonda MP Beni Prasad Verma as the OBC face of the party and a free hand to him to select Congress candidates in this OBC-dominated region; the many visits of Rahul Gandhi's to Dalit homes. That strategy also includes playing - in a state where caste equations decide political fortunes - the disenchantment of the upper caste with Mayawati.
But the Congress has to contend with dissent in the region over ticket distribution, a poor organisational structure, no clear support of any one block of voters and perhaps, the early morning rain.
Voting had been but a trickle in the morning, with the rain keeping the less committed voter away. More rain, analysts said , could favour Mayawati - the Dalit voters were most prominent among those that have braved the inclement weather. But the rain eventually stopped. Not that the Chief Minister has no worries as she makes a bid at forming government a fifth time. The BSP's Dalit vote is intact but the upper caste support of last time is slipping and the Muslim support that the party had managed to wrest from the Samajwadi Party has been significantly dented by Rahul Gandhi's overt wooing. Mayawati battles anti-incumbency and the BSP's image has been badly hit by corruption, something that the CM has been scrambling to address over the last few months by sacking minister after tainted minister and patting herself on the back for it. The BSP's entire appeal to the electorate is based on the Mayawati magic - the party is seeking votes for her as CM.
In this battle for Uttar Pradesh, the Samajwadi Party cannot be discounted just yet. Mulayam Singh Yadav too is pulling out all stops to regain what his party once had. UP 2012 has seen the son rising - Akhilesh Yadav is the face of the party this time as it tries to shed its lawless tag. With the educated, suave younger Yadav at the helm, the Samajwadi Party is also shedding other things - like its public dislike of computers. This time, the party is wooing the youth with promises of laptops among other things. In a busy campaign, the party seems to have consolidated the Yadav vote after the 2007 drift. It may divide the Muslim vote with the Congress and the BSP, though many in the state point out that Mulayam Singh's joining hands with Kalyan Singh has still not been forgotten by UP's Muslims, who were once considered the SP's safe vote base. It is still unclear who the party is projecting for CM - father Mulayam or son Akhilesh.
The BJP, which is hoping it will make this some sort of a four-cornered contest, has had a poor run-up. It is battling so much internally that it might hardly make a dent outside. It fielded Uma Bharti late in the day with an eye on backward votes, but she carries an "outsider" tag. It made the strategic mistake of inducting BSP reject, the tainted Babu Singh Kushwaha, and lost precious time in the brouhaha that followed. The party has managed to consolidate no caste or community, its corruption plank has failed to take off and the party has poor bench strength. Add to that a lack of star campaigners - a sulking Narendra Modi stayed away.
The first phase will decide the future of cabinet minister Lalji Verma, minister of state Sangram Singh Verma, 15 former ministers and relatives of several MPs including Rakesh Verma, the son of Union Steel Minister Beni Prasad Verma.
The rest of India's most populous state will go to the polls over six more rounds, the process ending on March 3. Votes will be counted on March 6.
"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.
Polling was held in the 10 districts of Sitapur, Barabanki, Faizabad, Ambedkar Nagar, Bahraich, Shravasti, Balrampur, Gonda, Siddharth Nagar and Basti amid tight security.
UP elections 2012 are mostly a Mayawati vs Rahul Gandhi battle; and the first phase is a slice of that high-stakes prestige battle. Mayawati's BSP holds 32 of the 55 seats that see voting today. In 2007, a strong anti-incumbency wave against Mulayam Singh Yadav's Samajwadi government allowed the BSP to sweep this region. It had a 32 per cent vote share. The SP's 30 per cent votes translated to only 16 seats. The Congress and BJP were nowhere in the reckoning with four and three seats.
But Rahul Gandhi's math for the region would rather look at numbers from the 2009 General Elections, when a resurgent Congress under the stewardship of Mr Gandhi won seven of the 22 parliamentary segments that make up the 55 seats voting today. The BSP got five, the SP two and the BJP none. Can the Congress storm this BSP bastion?
Mr Gandhi has scripted a strategy that aims to do just that - there is the strong wooing of the Muslim voter with the promise of the sub-quota for backward Muslims and the package for weavers; there is the promotion of Gonda MP Beni Prasad Verma as the OBC face of the party and a free hand to him to select Congress candidates in this OBC-dominated region; the many visits of Rahul Gandhi's to Dalit homes. That strategy also includes playing - in a state where caste equations decide political fortunes - the disenchantment of the upper caste with Mayawati.
But the Congress has to contend with dissent in the region over ticket distribution, a poor organisational structure, no clear support of any one block of voters and perhaps, the early morning rain.
Voting had been but a trickle in the morning, with the rain keeping the less committed voter away. More rain, analysts said , could favour Mayawati - the Dalit voters were most prominent among those that have braved the inclement weather. But the rain eventually stopped. Not that the Chief Minister has no worries as she makes a bid at forming government a fifth time. The BSP's Dalit vote is intact but the upper caste support of last time is slipping and the Muslim support that the party had managed to wrest from the Samajwadi Party has been significantly dented by Rahul Gandhi's overt wooing. Mayawati battles anti-incumbency and the BSP's image has been badly hit by corruption, something that the CM has been scrambling to address over the last few months by sacking minister after tainted minister and patting herself on the back for it. The BSP's entire appeal to the electorate is based on the Mayawati magic - the party is seeking votes for her as CM.
In this battle for Uttar Pradesh, the Samajwadi Party cannot be discounted just yet. Mulayam Singh Yadav too is pulling out all stops to regain what his party once had. UP 2012 has seen the son rising - Akhilesh Yadav is the face of the party this time as it tries to shed its lawless tag. With the educated, suave younger Yadav at the helm, the Samajwadi Party is also shedding other things - like its public dislike of computers. This time, the party is wooing the youth with promises of laptops among other things. In a busy campaign, the party seems to have consolidated the Yadav vote after the 2007 drift. It may divide the Muslim vote with the Congress and the BSP, though many in the state point out that Mulayam Singh's joining hands with Kalyan Singh has still not been forgotten by UP's Muslims, who were once considered the SP's safe vote base. It is still unclear who the party is projecting for CM - father Mulayam or son Akhilesh.
The BJP, which is hoping it will make this some sort of a four-cornered contest, has had a poor run-up. It is battling so much internally that it might hardly make a dent outside. It fielded Uma Bharti late in the day with an eye on backward votes, but she carries an "outsider" tag. It made the strategic mistake of inducting BSP reject, the tainted Babu Singh Kushwaha, and lost precious time in the brouhaha that followed. The party has managed to consolidate no caste or community, its corruption plank has failed to take off and the party has poor bench strength. Add to that a lack of star campaigners - a sulking Narendra Modi stayed away.
The first phase will decide the future of cabinet minister Lalji Verma, minister of state Sangram Singh Verma, 15 former ministers and relatives of several MPs including Rakesh Verma, the son of Union Steel Minister Beni Prasad Verma.
The rest of India's most populous state will go to the polls over six more rounds, the process ending on March 3. Votes will be counted on March 6.
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