Barring an incident of firing by BSF personnel, glitches in EVM and complaint of missing votes, polling in 8 constituencies of western UP concluded peacefully on Thursday.

Elaborate security arrangements were made in all eight constituencies: Saharanpur, Kairana, Meerut, Baghpat, Muzaffarnagar, Ghaziabad, Gautam Budh Nagar and Bijnore of Moradabad division to ensure peaceful and fair polling.

Additional director general of police in Meerut zone Prashant Kumar, along with senior officials, visited sensitive polling booths to monitor security arrangements as 176 companies of para military forces and PAC were deployed with state police and home guards to maintain law and order in and around booths.

A BSF personal fired in the air to push back a violent crowd in Rasoolpur Jugran village of Kairana constituency following a row between villagers and cops at a booth over issue of casting votes without ID proof. District magistrate of Shamli Akhilesh Kumar and other officials rushed to the spot and the situation was controlled. “Polling went on peacefully after the issue was resolved,” said DM Kumar.

Meanwhile, over 100 EVMs developed technical snag in different polling booths of Saharanpur, mainly in Deoband and Chutmalpur area of the constituency. District magistrate of Saharanpur Anoop Kumar Pandey admitted that 100 to 110 EVMs malfunctioned due to heating problem. The DM office later confirmed that all these EVMs were replaced and extra time given to voters to cast their votes.

A BSP agent in booth no 2 of Meerapur constituency claimed that he pressed the button of BSP symbol but his vote flipped to BJP symbol. He said that it happened with 6 to 7 voters in the same EVM. Umesh Kumar Sharma of Muzaffarnagar control-room said that sector magistrate of Meerapur area checked the EVM and found the claim false.

In Muzaffarnagar constituency, BJP candidate Sanjeev Baliyan complained that ‘ burqa clad’ women were allowed to cast their votes without matching their faces with voter records. Reacting to this, Congress leader and party’s candidate in Saharanpur Imran Masood commented, “ Baliyan needs brain treatment”. A few hours later, alliance candidate in Kairana and sitting MP Tabassum Hasan said that male staff in polling booths were checking faces of burqa-clad women. She said,” I have deputed a few women at booths to assist polling staff in this regard.”

A dalit women in Lauti Menk village accused a polling personnel of casting her vote for BJP when she asked him to locate BSP’s symbol on EVM. She raised the issue with officials and sought action.

A mixed response of voters was seen observed during polling in different constituencies. While enthusiasm was high in Muslim and dalit dominated villages and localities, low turnout was observed in other localities.

In Ahmadabad, a Jat dominated village in Sardhana area of Muzaffarnagar, only 41 votes out of total 419 were cast till afternoon. In Fareedpur village of BJP MLA Sangeet Som, only 145/ 569 votes were cast. On the other hand, long queues of voters were seen in Muslim dominated Mandhiai village. Jagdish Singh , pradhan of Chabaria village, admitted that less enthusiasm of voters was the main reason for comparatively low turnout.

Even frequent visits of BJP, Congress and alliance leaders failed to encourage voters to come out in big numbers. Prime minister Narendra Modi held two rallies in Meerut and Nanauta town of Saharanpur, CM Yogi addressed rallies in every constituency, Priyanka Gandhi took out road shows in Saharanpur and Bijnore and Mayawati, Akhilesh Yadav and Ajit Singh held a joint rally in Deoband as well as individual rallies in each constituency.

While BJP candidates mostly sought votes in the name of Modi and development works in past 5 years, opposition parties, including Congress, blamed the BJP for spreading hatred in society on the lines of religion, raised issues of joblessness, soaring prices, fFarmers’ distress, pending sugarcane dues and stray cattle menace. Being a sugarcane belt, issues pertaining to farming and sugarcane turned into major poll planks in Baghpat, Kairana, Muzaffarnagar, Meerut and Bijnore constituencies.

First Published: Apr 12, 2019 08:48 IST