Goa recorded the highest voter turnout of nearly 79% among the three states that went to polls on Monday, but Uttarakhand was the only one that marginally surpassed its 2017 turnout with 65% while the nine UP districts that voted in the second phase fell short of the previous benchmark with just under 63%.
In the previous elections in UP’s Rohilkhand region, which has six districts with a large Muslim electorate, the turnout had been a little over 65%. Goa’s preliminary figure almost rivalled the last election's turnout of 81%, with CM Pramod Sawant's constituency Sanquelim reporting the highest voter presence of over 89% in a potential hat-trick poll for the BJP government.
Saharanpur, the town where UP CM Yogi Adityanath has promised to build an Anti-Terrorism Squad training centre close to the Islamic seminary Darul Uloom Deoband, recorded the maximum voting among the 55 constituencies with over 67%. Shahjahanpur, represented by eight-time BJP MLA Suresh Kumar Khanna, was at the bottom with a 55% turnout. Several Muslim-majority seats were in focus as the community constitutes more than 40% of the population in six of the nine districts.
In Amroha, 66% cast their votes, followed by Moradabad at 64% and Bijnor at 61%. Azam Khan’s bastion Rampur reported 60% voting. Sambhal, Budaun and Bareilly had a much lower turnout of 56%, 55%, and 57% respectively. Polling was mostly peaceful, barring a clash between BJP workers and the police in Shahjahanpur after the former alleged that the cops took money to "support" the Samajwadi Party candidate at Nigohi in Tilhar constituency.
BJP nominee Salona Kushwaha complained of alleged police inaction against "fake voters". Rampur district magistrate Ravindra Kumar Mander said he caught two women casting "fake votes" in a polling booth.
Uttarakhand's chief electoral officer Sowjanya said Haridwar district recorded the maximum polling in the hill state till 5 pm with 67%. In Dehradun district, 62% of voters turned up. Almora district recorded 53%, the lowest in the state, according to available data. Uttarakhand has 70 assembly seats.
In Goa, where the 21-seat mark in the 40-member House will be BJP's figure to watch out for on result day, there were 301 candidates from 12 political parties and some Independents in the fray. Chief electoral officer Kunal said the final voter turnout could cross 80%. Polling was peaceful, barring a car belonging to a BJP functionary being set ablaze and a clash in Benaulim between supporters of AAP and TMC. Vasco, Sanguem and Navelim constituencies reported minor incidents.
