Forty three per cent voters cast their mandate in the Gorakhpur parliamentary constituency on Sunday while Phulpur recorded an even lesser 37.39 per cent turnout in the crucial bypolls to the two lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh. Meanwhile, 57 per cent polling was recorded in the by-election to the Araria lok Sabha constituency in Bihar.
“Gorakhpur recorded a turnout of 43 per cent and Phulpur 37.39 per cent. Polling was peaceful and no untoward incidents related to law and order were reported,” said the State election officer. There were complaints of EVM malfunctioning at a few booths, but the machines were promptly replaced without affecting the polling, he added.
The reason behind the lower than expected turnout in the high-stakes polls in the country's electorally most significant State was said to be a lack of enthusiasm among voters who are now looking forward to the general elections which are barely a year away.
The bypolls were necessitated after Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya vacated their Gorakhpur and Phulpur lok Sabha seats after getting elected to the State legislative Council. After casting his vote in Gorakhpur, Adityanath said the BJP was getting widespread support. “The people know that development is the only panacea,” he told reporters.
The saffron party has fielded Kaushalendra Singh Patel from Phulpur and Upendra Dutt Shukla from Gorakhpur against the SP's Pravin Nishad and Nagendra Pratap Singh Patel, respectively. The Congress has nominated Sureetha Kareem for Gorakhpur and Manish Mishra for the Phulpur lok Sabha seat. Ten candidates are in the fray from Gorakhpur, while 22 candidates are contesting from Phulpur.
Phulpur, once represented by the country's first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, witnessed a saffron surge in the 2014 lok Sabha elections as Maurya won there. Maurya exuded confidence that the BJP would sweep the ongoing bypolls. “I am confident that on March 14 (when results are declared), the
record made in Phulpur in 2014 (lok Sabha elections) will be repeated, and our candidate Kaushalendra Patel will emerge victorious,” he told reporters after casting his vote for the Phulpur seat along with his family members.
Fifty-seven per cent polling was recorded in the by-election to the Araria lok Sabha constituency in Bihar. The bypoll in Araria is being viewed as a test for the ruling JD(U)-BJP combine as well as the opposition RJD-Congress alliance, ahead of the big battle in the general elections due next year.
In the Bhabua and Jehanabad Assembly constituencies, where bypolls were also held, the voter turnout was 54.03 per cent and 50.06 per cent respectively after polling ended at 5 pm, Bihar Chief Electoral Officer Ajay V Nayak said. The ruling JD(U)-BJP combine and the Opposition RJD-Congress alliance were locked in a battle on the three seats.