UP Elections: High turnout worries parties

LUCKNOW: It might be too early to predict which way the wind is blowing in UP, but the high turnout in the first phase has left all parties worried . In public, all major players claim the record 62% turnout signals a wave in their favour, but in private they admit they have very little clue of what this surge in numbers actually means.

With stakes very high, every party is clutching on to its core vote bank and poaching on others’ turf. On Thursday, all of them ensured that their voters came out in large numbers. But none of them expected that the average voting would hit 62% compared with a 46% in 2007.

Some interpret the high turnout of urban middle class Hindus as a shot in the arm for BJP. Others read an advantage to SP and Congress in the increased voting by pasmanda (backward) Muslims. Experts say the long queues in dalit-dominated rural and urban areas favour BSP.

BSP leaders concede off-therecord that the good turnout in urban areas might help Congress and BJP. Congress on the other hand fears the consequence of the huge turnout of Mayawati supporters in dalit-dominated areas. SP leaders say they’re worried about a possible split in Muslim votes because of poaching by Congress and smaller parties. BJP leaders say there’s been an increase in voting percentage of all the castes and communities, hence the end result may not change as desired by the party.

But one thing became clear from conversation with voters: There’s deep anguish against the establishment – be it the state or Centre or the local MLA. Youngsters don’t just want development and good governance but jobs and also better agriculture prospects.

While more jobs is a prime issue for the urban youth, in rural areas the young generation wants better facilities for agriculture. The youth considers Bijli, Sadak, Pani as their right and not a favour. Governments don’t do them a favour providing these. Political pundits say earlier an angry electorate avoided voting as they were convinced nothing could possibly change for the better. But the wins of Nitish Kumar in Bihar, Shivraj Singh Chauhan in MP, Sheila Dixit in Delhi and Raman Singh in Chhattisgarh led to the realization that voting can bring about change. “The Anna factor did not work against any particular party but created a public sentiment against corruption. Most first-time voters were idealistic with a desire to fight corruption,” said Manjul Upadhyaya, a research scholar.