Independents can swing poll results in UP

Kanpur, Mar 29 (UNI) Independents have long influenced poll results in Uttar Pradesh with the maximum number of such candidates in fray in 1991 assembly poll.

In 1957, maximum 74 independents were declared elected cornering a vote share of 28.68.

So far, 14 state assembly polls have been held in UP and the independents have accounted for an average 72 per cent of the candidates fighting in the hustings.

In 1993 poll, a total of 9,065 candidates were in fray, of which 6,537 were independents. However, only eight of them could win, cornering 6.77 per cent votes.

Further in 2002 assembly poll, the number of independents stood at 2,353 out of 5,533 candidates. While, 16 independents emerged victorious, 2,318 lost their deposit. They got 7.67 per cent votes.

In the first UP assembly poll in 1952, after the country's independence, a total of 1,005 independents had contested, of which only 14 won, taking the vote share of 19.5 per cent.

The golden year for independents was 1957, when 74 of them romped home out of a total of 662 independent candidates. As many as 1,711 candidates were in fray in that year.

Similarly in 1967, 1962, 1969, 1974, 1977, 1980 and 1985, 37, 31, 18, 5, 16, 16 and 25 independent candidates emerged victorious respectively.

UNI