Janjivan Bureau
Imphal/ Lucknow : An estimated 57.03 per cent voters cast their votes in Uttar Pradesh and a record 84 per cent in Manipur, the Election Commission of India said on Saturday. Manipur recorded a tentative 84 per cent voter turnout in the first phase of polling for the 60-seat state assembly today.
Polling was held in 1,643 polling stations in 38 constituencies across the twin districts of Imphal East and Imphal West, Bishnupur and the hill districts of Churachandpur and Kangpokpi.
The figure is tentative as reports from 28 polling stations are to yet be received due to lack of proper communication, Chief Electoral Officer V K Dewangan told reporters here.
He said 77.18 per cent polling was recorded in the same constituencies in the 2012 Assembly elections.
He said there was alleged threat to voters by unidentified troublemakers at Saikul constituency in Kangpokpi district and investigations would be made.
The second phase of election in the remaining 22 constituencies is scheduled to be held on March 8.
Azamgarh, the Lok Sabha constituency of Samajwadi Party patron Mulayam Singh Yadav, after recording the lowest turnout in the first four hours, picked up considerably and at 1 pm it registered 41 per cent polling.
The SP patriarch did not campaign in his constituency following a fallout with his son Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, who replaced him as the party President.
Mau where mafia don turned politician Mukhtaar Ansari was fielded by the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) reported steady polling through the day. A minor scuffle was reported from the Sadar area in Mau where police had to resort to lathicharge.
Over 1.72 crore voters from 49 constituencies are deciding the fate of 635 candidates, of whom 175 are fighting independently. Polling was slow in the first two hours, which later picked up steadily.
There are several interesting contests in this phase as Swamy Prasad Maurya of the Bahujan Samaj Party, Surya Pratap Shahi, BJP, Shyam Bahadur Yadav, SP and others battle it out.
While Maurya is contesting from Padrauna, former state Bharatiya Janata Party chief Surya Pratap Shahi is fighting from Pathardeva.
Among the early voters was BJP’s MP from Gorakhpur Yogi Adityanath. Most number of candidates are in Gorakhpur city where 127 candidates are in fray for its nine seats, while the least — seven — are in Mohammadabad Gohna seat in Mau.
Manipur recorded a a tenative 84 per cent voting, and was likely given that people still waited in queues to cast their votes.
“In the last two elections it was around 80 per cent. This time it is likely to increase. We are waiting for the final figures, which we will get after 5.30 pm,” OSD to Chief Electoral officer Manipur, Karam Bono Singh said.
In all, 168 candidates are in the fray in this phase.
Prominent among them are Speaker Th Lokeswar Singh, ministers I Hemochandra Singh, Govindas Konthoujam, Kh Ratankumar Singh and T Manga Vaiphei, Manipur PCC President TN Haokip, former ministers Phungzathang Tonsing, and Y Erabot Singh and BJP leader Th Chaoba Singh.
While the polling was by and large peaceful, Peoples Resurgence and Justice Alliance (PRJA) convener Erendro Leichombam filed a police complaint that he was attacked by some unidentified men at Sinam Leikai.
“Two persons pelted stones at my car at Sinam Leikai when I was travelling in it around 11 am,” Leichombom told newsmen.
Sinam Leikai falls in Thangmeiband assembly constituency where polling was held today and Leichombom, a Harvard graduate and former World Bank Fellow who also served in UNDP, is contesting from the seat.
The officer-in-charge of Imphal police station confirmed that a complaint had been registered and said Leichombom was not injured in the attack, police said.
“He had lodged a police compliant and he had also lodged a complaint with us,” Manipur Chief Electoral Officer Vivek Kumar Dewangan said.
PRJA founder and human rights activist Irom Sharmila also cast her vote at a polling booth in Khurai assembly constituency.
