Poor turnout in Rae Bareli till 1400 hrs

Rae Bareli, May 8 (UNI) Polling in the high-profile Rae Bareli Lok Sabha constituency, which began on a brisk note in the morning, lost steam by afternoon with only 32.6 per cent of the electorate casting votes till 1430 hrs.

While the polling process remained by-and-large peaceful, Congress and Samajwadi Party traded charges of booth rigging.

Since morning, voters -- including several women -- had lined up outside polling booths an hour before the polling process began at 0700 hrs.

Most voters claimed they wanted to exercise franchise before noon to avoid heat. ''But it seems the heat took its toll on the voting percentage,'' said a district administration official here.

During the first four hours, over 8 per cent of the electorate had cast their votes. There are a total of 13,61,411 voters in the Lok Sabha constituency where AICC chief Sonia Gandhi is seeking re-election. Women amount to a little less then 50 per cent of the electorate.

Other prominent candidates in the fray include BJP's Vinay Katiyar, SP's Rajkumar Chaudhury and Apna Dal's Prabha Singh Lodh.

Ms Lodh is former MP chief minister Uma Bharti's candidate contesting on an Apna Dal ticket.

Ms Vadra alleged that bogus votes were cast at a polling booth in Maharajganj area of the constituency.

She had since lodged a complaint with the election observer blaming a sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) for the episode. An SDM from Mohanlalganj (Lucknow) is posted as in-charge of Maharajganj.

The SP too alleged that Ms Priyanka Vadra was influencing voters even as ''Congressmen accompanying her were indulging in rigging in the Lok Sabha byelection.'' Beni Prasad Verma, SP leader and father-in-law of the party candidate in the constituency Rajkumar Chaudhury, talking to reporters alleged that Ms Vadra was moving in a motorcade of 12 vehicles to influence voters. ''The 80 men travelling with her are rigging booths,'' he said.

SP MLC and state unit president Ram Sharan Das faxed a written complaint to the Election Commission in this regard.

Mr Verma alleged that presiding officer at booth number 78 at Mainpuri was casting fake votes in favour of Ms Gandhi along with other members of his staff.

The SP also lashed out at Rae Bareli SP and district magistrate/returning officer for not carrying out their duties in an impartial manner.

''They are IPS and IAS officers...they can be influenced by the Department of Personnel in the union government.'' Meanwhile, Rae Bareli police chief B D Paulson told reporters that police have placed about 200 trouble makers under house arrest.

Ms Gandhi's daughter and election agent Priyanka hit the road early today and toured polling booths at Bachrawan assembly segment.

At Raja Mau village, she managed to give reporters the slip, who were tailing her cavalcade.

Later Talking to reporters, she said the queues outside booths indicated people's enthusiasm. She said electronic voting maschines (EVMs) at some booths were not functioning ''but officials are rectifying the flaws.'' SP candidate Rajkumar Chaudhury visited the polling booth set up at the Government Inter-college. He too spoke about the faulty EVMs.

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