February 15, 2002	Friday	Zilhaj 2, 1422

LUCKNOW, Feb 14: Uttar Pradesh went to the polls on Thursday amid tight security and central government concerns that a bad result could undermine the stability of the multi-party coalition in New Delhi.

A poor electoral result for Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee’s Hindu nationalist BJP party in Uttar Pradesh, looking to return 85 MPs to the national parliament, could destablise the BJP’s multi-party ruling coalition in New Delhi.

But as millions trooped to the ballot box, exit polls gave the thumbs up to the BJP.

Voting was also held in smaller states of Manipur and Uttaranchal, but all eyes were on Uttar Pradesh, also known as India’s “Hindu heartland”, where phased balloting was conducted Thursday at 92 of the 403 assembly constituencies.

The Hindu nationalists currently rule Uttar Pradesh and previous opinion polls had suggested a huge comeback by the rival Samajwadi Party, which banks on the state’s millions of Muslims to prop it up.

Separate exit polls broadcast by two private television networks after balloting ended said the Hindu nationalists were ahead of the Congress party and the Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh.

The BJP was likely to win up to 34 of the 92 seats while the Congress headed by Sonia Gandhi was predicted to pick up around 25 seats, said Zee and Aaj Tak television networks.

India’s best-known pollsters, CMS, however said the ruling BJP and its electoral allies were positioned to grab as many as 46 seats followed by 28 by Samajwadi Party and the Congress could just post a victory in two of the 92 polled constituencies.

Voting in Uttar Pradesh has been staggered over three days so as not to stretch the security forces which monitor the electorate of close to 100 million people.

But polling was disrupted in at least one Uttar Pradesh centre and the state’s principal home secretary Naresh Dayal said he would call for a re-poll.

Dayal said that vote in Ardi village was suspended after supporters of the Bahujan Samaj Party and the Rashtriya Lok Dal threw stones at one another.

More than 22 million in the western part of the state were eligible to vote in the first phase. The second and third stages will take place on February 18 and 21.

The three exit polls unanimously predicted a fractured verdict in the 70-seat Uttaranchal Pradesh assembly, which Thursday saw its first voting since the region was carved out from hilly districts of Uttar Pradesh and named a separate state last year.

Almost half of Uttaranchal’s 5.2 million eligible voters exercised their franchise on Thursday, officials said.

Indian PM Vajpayee, while downplaying suggestions that the Uttar Pradesh poll amounts to a referendum on his government, has campaigned not on local subjects but on the broader issue of terrorism and how the BJP is best-equipped to protect India.

His speeches have been peppered with anti-Pakistani rhetoric at a time when hundreds of thousands of Indian troops are locked in a military face-off on the common borders.

In Uttar Pradesh, voters’ turnout was put at 55 percent by Dayal.

With violence before and during elections a common feature in Uttar Pradesh, the authorities had deployed 60,000 police and paramilitary troops.

The size of the election attracted the participation of an eclectic group of candidates, including eunuchs and magicians, with film stars adding a touch of glamour to the campaigning.

One maverick candidate is Naresh Bhaduriya of the Pol-Khol (Expose Everyone) party, who sent up the endemic corruption in Indian politics by campaigning in favour of greed and betrayal.

Police had rounded up hundreds “as a preventive measure” and also jammed cellphone lines to prevent “miscreants from causing confusion,” the official said.

MANIPUR: In troubled Manipur state, two paramilitary personnel were killed and eight more wounded in an attack by separatists in the first phase of polling, which witnessed the deployment of about 30,000 federal soldiers.

The final phase is set for Feb 21, and details of Thursday’s turnout in Manipur was not immediately available.

Manipur separatists had been in intimidation overdrive ahead of the polls — triggering blasts, abducting candidates and attacking homes of politicians.—AFP