— Photo: AP

A paramilitary soldier stands guard, as voters wait in queue to cast their votes outside a polling booth at the Chamanganj area of Kanpur on Saturday. — Photo: AP

NEW DELHI: About 46 per cent of the 1.61 crore voters turned out to exercise their franchise in the first phase of the Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh on Saturday. Polling was held in 62 constituencies spread across 13 districts of the central and western parts of the State. A total of 839 candidates were in the fray.

"We expect the polling percentage to go up marginally when the final tally reaches us. Polling was peaceful and no incidents of either booth capturing or violence were reported from constituencies which went to the polls on Saturday," Deputy Election Commissioners R. Balakrishnan and Rajshri Bhattacharyya told reporters here.

Heavy security

Asked about the strict security measures that, the ruling Samajwadi Party claimed, kept the voters away, the officials said it was a "value judgment" and declined further comment.

However, they said the strong presence of Central para-military forces instilled a sense of security and confidence in the people and they could vote fearlessly.

On the low turnout in the first phase, Mr. Balakrishnan said it had been similar in the 2002 Assembly elections as well. "There is nothing surprising about it," he said.

He said a large number of voters — about 88 per cent — voted with their election photo identity cards. The Commission had set up 16,000 polling stations and nearly 18,000 Electronic Voting Machines were used in Saturday's polling.

He said "minor errors" were reported from 105 locations. These were attended to.

Action on CD issue

Asked when a decision would be taken on the controversial CD produced by the Uttar Pradesh unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party, the officials said the Commission had received the party's reply to the notice and it was still under consideration.

They said the FIR against the BJP leaders was registered on the directions of the Commission.

Lucknow Special Correspondent reports:

Chief Electoral Officer Anuj Kumar Bishnoi said the highest polling percentage of around 57 per cent was recorded in Mehroni in Lalitpur district, and the lowest in Agra West where only 32 per cent voters exercised their franchise.

Incidentally, the key constituencies of Bhartana and Jaswantnagar in Etawah district recorded an identical 52 per cent voter turnout. Chief Minister Mulayam Singh and his brother, PWD and Energy Minister Shivpal Singh Yadav, contested the elections from Bhartana and Jaswantnagar.

Mr. Bishnoi said the Commission received 37 complaints from political parties. These related mostly to missing names from the voters' list and problems with identification documents, he said. However, complaints received from Etawah and Mainpuri districts related to people not being allowed to cast their votes by the supporters of a political party.

"Fear psychosis"

Mr. Mulayam Singh and his brother reportedly attributed the sluggish voting to the unprecedented measures adopted by the Election Commission. The Chief Minister, who cast his vote at his native village, Saifai, condemned the Commission for allegedly creating a fear psychosis among the voters.

On the exit polls being shown on TV channels, Mr. Bishnoi said the matter was under judicial scrutiny, and added that the Commission was not in favour of exit polls.

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