Uttar Pradesh polls: Voter turnout picks up after a dull start to the second phase

Lucknow : Voting began on a slow note this morning in the second phase  the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections began today but picked up by afternoon. 52 per cent polling had been reported till 4 pm. Buoyed by the over 62 per cent voter turn out in the first phase, authorities hope this round too will see people voting in large numbers.

59 seats across nine districts, in what is known as the Poorvanchal region or eastern Uttar Pardesh, are up for grabs in this round of polling .

This region is crucial for the Congress as it looks to consolidate the Muslim vote - its focus area in these elections. Many of these constituencies that vote today, like Azamgarh, Mau, Balia, Gazipur have a significant presence of Muslim voters, especially the backward Ansari weavers, who Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi has been trying to reach out to by announcing the Rs. 3000 crore weaver package.

This phase will also test the potency of the 4.5 per cent backward minorities sub quota decision - another poll sop that for now has been stayed by Election Commission (EC), but will soon become a reality once the results are announced.

The Congress has also resurrected the possibility of a judicial probe in the Batla House encounter in Delhi that claimed the lives of boys from Azamgarh, who were suspected to be Indian Mujahideen operatives. Union Law Minister Salman Khurshid at a rally said that the government's hands were tied by a model code of conduct, but the party's president Sonia Gandhi was emotionally disturbed by the bloody encounter at Batla House.

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The Congress, however, is not the only party that is desperately courting the Muslim vote. Mulayam Singh Yadav is also hoping to re-acquire the title of "Maulana Mulayam", an identity he lost in the run up to the 2009 Lok Sabha elections when he forged an alliance with Kalyan Singh - a man who many Muslims consider as the face of the Babri Masjid demolition. The tie-up ended abruptly after the Samajwadi Party experienced a massive erosion of its traditional Muslim vote.

Constituencies that fall under Gorakhpur, that have seen dedicated political loyalties for the BJP for years post the temple movement, will also be going to polls.

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Similarities of eastern UP to western parts of Bihar have made this a potential political hunting ground for Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar who has fielded several candidates on a JD(U) ticket in the hope that his goodwill in Bihar will rub off in the Poorvanchal region.

The caste pie still stands in favour of the BSP that bagged the majority of the seats in the region in 2007. The BSP will be hoping that more than 27 per cent committed Dalit voters will show no signs of shifting loyalties.

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The proposed division of UP and the creation of a separate state of Poorvanchal will also resonate in the minds of voters when they make a beeline to cast their vote.

Also expected to play the role of vote eaters are smaller parties like the Peace Party and the Ulema Council that bank on their nascent but growing popularity with the Muslim voters and are also trying to create a scare amongst bigger parties like the Congress, BSP and Samajwadi Party that need Muslim votes to pull off a win.

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Former Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh who was dumped by Mulayam Singh after the Kalyan Singh fiasco and hails from Azamgarh has also fielded candidates and vowed to cause significant damage to the Samajwadi Party for what he calls a betrayal by Mulayam Singh.

Among those whose political futures get decided today are two state presidents, 31 MLAs and 24 former ministers.

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(with agency inputs)