Low turnout in Lucknow, Noida by-poll has BJP worried

Doubts are being raised in the Bharatiya Janata Party about its fate in the prestigious constituencies of Lucknow (East) and Noida by-poll, where the voting percentage was as low as 34 and 32 respectively.

The low voter turnout has upset the BJP leadership. BJP MP Yogi Adityanath and state BJP chief Laxmi Kant Bajpai, who were leading the party campaign in the by-election, had assured the national leadership of retaining each of the 11 assembly seats that went to the polls.

While 10 of these seats were won by the BJP in 2012, one was held by its ally Apna Dal, whose president Anupriya Patel vacated the seat after getting elected to the Lok Sabha in May.

Adityanath and Bajpai were not prepared to explain the loss of a single seat as that would raise questions on the ‘Narendra Modi magic’ that took the BJP to a record win at the general election in May.  

The trend in bigger cities like Lucknow and Noida has surprised many in the BJP, where the polling percentage has shot up appreciably in the Lok Sabha election. “After the turnout went up in the general election in May, we did not expect it to drop drastically so soon,” said UP’s Chief Election Officer Umesh Sinha.

Of the 11 assembly seats, Lucknow and Noida are most significant. The Lucknow (east) constituency was earlier held by veteran party leader Kalraj Misra, who is currently a Union minister in the Narendra Modi cabinet. The Lucknow parliamentary seat was held by Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh.

Among the remaining assembly seats that went to the by-election, Rohaniya in Varanasi failed to show a voter turnout of more than 52 per cent. Despite it being a part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Lok Sabha constituency, the voting percentage was far below the party’s expectations.

The only high profile constituency that witnessed an impressive turnout of nearly 60 per cent was Charkhari, which was vacated by firebrand BJP leader and Union minister Uma Bharti.

Political pundits see the absence of the Bahujan Samaj Party in the polls as a major factor in determining the course of this election. BSP supremo Mayawati had said she did not believe in contesting by-elections and instead chose to direct her party supporters to vote for certain independents.