Voting for the first phase of assembly elections in the Jat dominated belt of Western Uttar Pradesh, spanning 58 seats spread over 11 districts, ended on Thursday evening, registering voter turnout of nearly 58 per cent.
Polling was by and large peaceful and no incident of violence was reported from anywhere though complaints of malfunctioning of EVMs and VVPATs were received which the Election Commission attended to immediately. Heavy deployment of police personnel was made in the poll-bound region with the induction of nearly 800 companies of paramilitary forces.
A number of voters who cast their votes spoke about the key issues which prompted them to decide their preference of polling – development, law and order, education, unemployment, security for shops and business establishments, farmers’ agitation and communal harmony.
This belt of western U.P. had seen vast mobilization of farmers and their support to the protest of farmers against the three contentious farm laws a year ago. Finally, Prime Minister Narendra Modi stepped in to announce his government’s decision to repeal the three laws in the interest of the country. Dialogue between the Centre and farmers’ unions had failed to resolve the stalemate.
Last time, the ruling BJP had bagged 53 seats out of 58 while Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party got two seats each and one seat went to Rashtriya Lok Dal. Out of 58 seats, nine are reserved seats.
Among important districts in the first phase of polling are Shamli, Meerut, Hapur, Agra, Aligarh, Mathura and Baghpat. As many as 623 candidates are in the fray to test their electoral fortunes. The region has nearly 22.8 million strong electorate and for the facility of voters as many as 10,833 polling centres were made and 25,880 polling booths were made available over 11 districts.
Some of the prominent candidates include U.P. Power Minister Shrikant Sharma from Mathura, Baby Rani Maurya of BJP from Agra Rural, Pankaj Singh of BJP from Noida who is pitted against Pankhuri Pathak of Congress, Mriganka Singh of BJP from Kairana who faces Nahid Hasan of Samajwadi Party and Sangeet Som of BJP from Sardhana.
Among important districts in the first phase where polling took place are Shamli, Meerut, Hapur, Agra, Aligarh, Mathura and Baghpat. As many as 623 candidates are in the fray to test their electoral fortunes.
Campaigning this time around was more in digital mode and on social media platforms owing to restrictions on big rallies and meetings imposed by the Election Commission. Most of the candidates resorted to door-to-door campaigning as well.
Star campaigners for the BJP included Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, chief minister Yogi Adityanath, party president J P Nadda, while for the Congress party’s general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra made several visits in the area and also undertook door to door campaigning. The main challengers –Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav along with his ally RLD’s Jayant Chaudhary were among star campaigners.
Key Factors in West UP
This belt in west UP is among the most urbanised and prosperous regions of the country’s most populous state. Most urban districts like Ghaziabad and Gautam Buddh Nagar are located in this belt. The share of rural population in this belt is about 58.4 per cent as against 81 per cent in the rest of U.P.
Though BJP was helped in 2014 and 2019 general elections owing to communal riots that had erupted in the region in 2013, this region also saw an all-time impressive electoral performance by the Lotus party in 2017 assembly elections, garnering 53 assembly seats by cornering 77.4 percent vote share in the last elections.
The most talked about question remains: Will the BJP’s prospects take a hit on account of farmers’ resentment and ire that took the shape of long drawn protest lasting for a year? If the support to the SP-RLD combine and presence of crowds in their roadshows and meetings is any indication, there are enough signs to presume that Jats and Muslims will assume that their interests would be best served under the SP-RLD regime. If such a shift takes place, it is almost certain that the BJP will be in for difficult times from this region.