From bovine menace to political bonhomie between archrivals, to facing farmers’ fury in Lakhimpur Kheri, polling in the fourth phase witnessed myriads moods and colours in a multi-cornered contest on Wednesday.
As polling was in progress, BSP supremo Mayawati and Union Home Minister Amit Shah showered praise on each other, setting the tongues wagging about a possible tie-up between the BSP and the BJP in the event of a hung assembly after the polls; this was also being interpreted as an admission by the saffron party that it has faced a stiff challenge in the polls. Lakhimpur Kheri witnessed an impressive turnout, apparently indicating the region’s agrarian unrest and angst against the ruling dispensation.
Long queues were witnessed outside polling booths. Surrounded by a large number of security personnel, Union Minister and BJP leader Ajay Mishra, embroiled in a major controversy involving his son, also turned up to cast his vote and had to face a hostile crowd. His prestige is said to be at stake and the outcome in this region may also have an impact on his position.
Not too far off, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath too found himself at the receiving end of pent-up emotions as angry farmers released hundreds of stray cattle into an open ground in Barabanki district, about 40 kilometres from Lucknow, where he was scheduled to address an election rally.
The day started with brisk polling but rural areas reported a better turnout, as against the urban ones. Political bigwigs like Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and BSP supremo Mayawati were among the first to exercise their franchise in Lucknow.
Being the administrative seat of governance, the state capital also witnessed an enthusiastic participation of the bureaucracy as ‘babus’ with their ‘memsahibs’ and ‘baba log’ too turned up in full glare of lens men and the media to cast their vote. The ruling BJP faces a tough fight in some of the mosttalked-about seats from the Opposition, be it the SP, Congress or the BSP. “I am winning from Lucknow North.
There is no doubt about it. People are turning out in big numbers to oust the BJP,” said Pooja Shukla, the youngest Samajwadi Party candidate in fray. Polling in Sarojini Nagar from, where former Enforcement Director Rajeshwar Singh is contesting on a BJP ticket, however, was slow to start. “I have voted for Rudra Daman Singh of the Congress but please don’t reveal my identity,” said Rajendra Pasi (name changed) fearing reprisal for his political preference.
“I have not seen Rajeshwar Singh but that doesn’t matter; we are voting for Modi-Yogi ji,” said Diksha Shukla, a first-time voter and a B-tech graduate. Women clearly outnumbered men in several polling booths in Unnao from where the Congress has fielded the mother of the rape victim of the infamous incident of 2017. She is pitted against BJP’s Pankaj Gupta. “I would have voted for Priyanka Gandhi if she herself was fighting the election. The problem is instead of contesting herself she either supports her brother or mother,” said Vatsala Gautam, a teacher in government school for whom SP’s poll promise of restoring the pension scheme is a major allurement.
Phase IV has turned out to be a neck-and-neck seat-to-seat contest between the ruling BJP and the principal challenger, the SP. “We are continuously travelling in UP villages. What we have observed — Modi ji is still a powerful narrative...More influential than many other narratives,” said Rajesh Singh, who is covering the polls for a major national English daily
