PHOTO: NAND KUMAR/ PTI

FOR MOTHER'S SAKE: Priyanka Vadra, polling agent for Congress president Sonia Gandhi talks to elderly women outside a polling booth in Rae Bareli on Monday.

Rae Bareli: Nearly 42.6 per cent of the 13,61,411 voters on Monday exercised their franchise in the byelection in Rae Bareli, from where Congress president Sonia Gandhi is seeking re-election to the Lok Sabha.

Polling, which began on a brisk note in the morning, lost steam by afternoon. The Election Commission increased the poll timing by an hour.

In the 2004 general elections, in which Ms. Gandhi was elected from the constituency for the first time, the turnout was 48 per cent. She won by around 2,49,000 votes.

The Congress was trying for a higher turnout to ensure her election by a record margin now.

While polling was peaceful by and large, a ruling Samajwadi Party leader, Jaishanker Vajpayee was shot by three armed men at Indira Nehar Pullia. He was hit in the left arm. The local SP leadership said Mr. Vajpayee, along with another leader Dinesh Singh, had caught a few outsiders campaigning for the Congress. But the Uttar Pradesh Home Department said the shooting incident was not poll-related.

Voters, including several women, had started lining up outside booths an hour before polling began at 7 a.m.

Most voters said they wanted to exercise their franchise before noon to avoid the heat. "But it seems the heat took its toll on the voting percentage," a district administration official said here.

During the first four hours, over eight per cent of the electorate cast their votes. Women account for a little less then 50 per cent of the voters.

Other prominent candidates are the Bharatiya Janata Party's Vinay Katiyar, the SP's Rajkumar Chaudhury and Prabha Singh Lodh, a nominee of the former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Uma Bharti contesting on the Apna Dal ticket.

Trading charges

Ms. Gandhi's daughter and election agent Priyanka Vadra alleged that bogus votes were cast at a booth in Maharajganj. She lodged a complaint with the observer blaming a sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) for the episode. An SDM from Mohanlalganj (Lucknow) is posted as in-charge of Maharajganj. Ms. Vadra, who hit the road early in the day, toured booths in the Bachrawan Assembly segment. She told reporters that the queues outside the booths indicated the people's enthusiasm. Electronic voting machines at some booths were not functioning "but officials are rectifying the flaws."

The SP alleged that Ms. Vadra was influencing voters even as "Congressmen accompanying her were indulging in rigging."

Beni Prasad Verma, SP leader and father-in-law of Mr. Rajkumar Chaudhury, told reporters that Ms. Vadra was moving in a motorcade of 12 vehicles to influence voters. "The 80 men travelling with her are rigging booths."

Ram Sharan Das, SP MLC and State unit president, faxed a complaint to the Election Commission. Mr. Verma alleged that the presiding officer at booth number 78 at Mainpuri, along with his staff, cast fake votes in favour of Ms. Gandhi.

The SP said the Superintendent of Police and the district magistrate/returning officer were not doing their duties impartially. "They are IPS and IAS officers. They can be influenced by the Department of Personnel in the Union Government."

Mr. Chaudhury, who visited the booth in the Government Inter College, also spoke about faulty EVMs.

Rae Bareli police chief B.D. Paulson told reporters that about 200 troublemakers had been put under house arrest. — UNI

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