LUCKNOW: An average of 53.6% people cast their votes to decide the fate of 88 candidates fielded across seven assembly seats which went to bypoll in Uttar Pradesh on Tuesday.
The average voting was much lower than what it was in 2017 assembly elections when 64.07% of voters had exercised their franchise across these seven seats. BJP had six of seven seats except for Malhani in Jaunpur where SP had the sitting MLA.
However, held during the pandemic times, the UP by-polls recorded a higher turnout of voters than the neighbouring Bihar which witnessed a little over 51% voting in the second phase. Counting of votes would be held on November 10.
Among the seven seats which went to bypoll, Amroha’s Naugaon Sadat seat recorded the highest 61.50 % voting. In 2017, this seat had witnessed a huge voting percentage of 76.3%. On this eats BJP had Chetan Chauhan as the sitting MLA who died after contracting COVID-19 in August.
With a considerable chunk of the Muslim population, Naugao Sadat seat was set for a keen triangular contest among BJP’s Sangeeta Chauhan, the widow of late Chetan Chauhan, Maulana Javed Abidi of Samajwadi Party and Furqan Ahmad of Bahujan Samaj Party.
In Tundla, 54% voting was recorded, which was lower as compared to 2017 assembly elections when 69.66% of voters had exercised their right. The seat had fallen vacant following the election of sitting BJP MLA SP Singh Baghel to Lok Sabha in 2019. Tundla, being a reserved seat, had a direct contest between BJP and SP.
The Bulandshahr assembly seat, which fell vacant following the death of BJP veteran Virendra Sirohi, recorded a moderate 52.10% polling. This was also lower than 64.27% polling in 2017. Here also, the BJP had fielded Sirohi’s widow Usha Sirohi. SP gave the ticket to Ajit Singh-led RLD which fielded Praveen Singh.
The polling percentage on Bangarmau seat remained 50.59%. In 2017, this seat had witnessed 59.80% voting. The seat had fallen vacant following disqualification of sitting BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Senger after being convicted in a rape case. The seat, which has a significant Muslim population, is also expected to see a direct contest between BJP’s Srikant Katiyar and SP’s Suresh Pal.
The BSP has fielded Mahesh Pal while Congress has played a Brahmin card by fielding Arti Bajpai.
The polling percentage was 51.05 in Deoria in eastern UP which was lower than 56.53% of 2017 assembly elections. The seat had fallen vacant following the death of senior BJP MLA Janmejai Singh. It had a multi-corner contest with all four major parties fielding Brahmin candidates. While BJP has fielded Satya Prakash Mani Tripathi, SP has fielded former MLA Brahma Shankar Tripathi. The BSP is banking on Awadhnath Tripathi, while Congress has fielded Mukund Bhaskar Mani Tripathi.
The Ghatampur reserved seat in Kanpur, which fell vacant due to the demise of sitting BJP MLAs and cabinet minister Kamal Rani Varun, also in August due to COVOID-19, recorded 50.59% polling. This was much less than 61.90% voting recorded in 2017. While the BJP had fielded Upendra Nath Paswan while SP relied upon former MLA Indrajit Kori. The BSP and Congress have fielded Kuldeep Shankhwar and Kripa Shankar, respectively.
The Malhani seat recorded 56.65% polling which was lower than 60.04% voting in 2017 assembly elections. This seat was won by Samajwadi Party senior leader Parasnath Yadav who passed away earlier this year. The SP has played on the sympathy factor by fielding Yadav’s son, Lucky. He is up against BJP’s Manoj Singh, a former student leader. The BSP and Congress have fielded Brahmin candidates -- Jai Prakash Dubey and Rakesh Mishra. Jaunpur’s strong man Dhananjay Singh is also in the fray as an independent.