2012 Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly election


The Uttar Pradesh legislative assembly election followed as a result the expiration of the five-year term of the previous legislature elected in Uttar Pradesh, India. The election to the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly was held in seven phases from 8 February through 3 March 2012. Uttar Pradesh has the world's largest population for a sub-national democracy. The incumbent chief minister Mayawati's Bahujan Samaj Party, which previously won an absolute majority of seats, was defeated by Mulayam Singh Yadav's Samajwadi Party, which gained an absolute majority in the election. Mulayam's son and Samajwadi party president Akhilesh Yadav was nominated as chief minister by the party.

Background

Uttar Pradesh is the largest state in India in terms of population, but the fourth largest in terms of landmass after the bifurcation to create Uttarakhand. It is also considered politically important because of the number of seats it returns to the Lok Sabha and as including the constituencies of such nationally notable figures as Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Varun Gandhi and Maneka Gandhi of the Nehru-Gandhi family dynasty. It was also previously the home of Prime Ministers Indira Gandhi and Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
The legislative assembly has 403 seats, 206 of which were won by the BSP in the previous election.

Schedule

Initially the ECI announced on 24 December 2011 that the election will occur in seven phases on 4, 8, 11, 15, 19, 23 and 28 February and the results will be declared on 3 March. Later, the date for announcement of result was changed to 6 March.
On 9 January, the Election Commission had announced that the original date of 4 February for the first phase had been changed to 3 March, while vote counting had moved from 4 to 6 March due to celebrations for Barawafat, for which an Election Commission official said that: "There were concerns people would not be able to come out to exercise their franchise."
PhaseDateConstituency
I8 February145. Maholi, 146. Sitapur 147. Hargaon 148. Laharpur 149. Biswan 150. Sevata 151. Mahmoodabad 152. Sidhauli 153. Misrikh 266. Kursi 267. Ram Nagar 268. Barabanki 269. Zaidpur 270. Dariyabad 271. Rudauli 272. Haidergarh 273. Milkipur 274. Bikapur 275. Ayodhya 276. Goshainganj 277. Katehari 278. Tanda 279. Alapur 280. Jalalpur 281. Akbarpur 282. Balha 283. Nanpara 284. Matera 285. Mahasi 286. Bahraich 287. Payagpur 288. Kaiserganj 289. Bhinga 290. Shrawasti 291. Tulsipur 292. Gainsari 293. Utraula 294. Balrampur 295. Mehnaun 296. Gonda 297. Katra Bazar 298. Colonelganj 299. Tarabganj 300. Mankapur 301. Gaura 302. Shohratgarh 303. Kapilvastu 304. Bansi 305. Itwa 306. Domariyaganj 307. Harraiya 308. Kaptanganj 309. Rudhauli 310. Basti Sadar 311. Mahadewa
II11 February312. Menhdawal, 313. Khalilabad 314. Dhanghata 315. Pharenda 316. Nautanwa 317. Siswa 318. Maharajganj 319. Paniyra 320. Caimpiyarganj 321. Pipraich 322. Gorakhpur Urban 323. Gorakhpur Rural 324. Sahajanwa 325. Khajani 326. Chauri-Chaura 327. Bansgaon 328. Chillupar 329. Khadda 330. Padrauna 331. Tamkuhi Raj 332. Fazilnagar 333. Kushinagar 334. Hata 335. Ramkola 336. Rudrapur 337. Deoria 338. Pathardeva 339. Rampur Karkhana 340. Bhatpar Rani 341. Salempur 342. Barhaj 343. Atrauliya 344. Gopalpur 345. Sagri 346. Mubarakpur 347. Azamgarh 348. Nizamabad 349. Phoolpur-Pawai 350. Didarganj 351. Lalganj 352. Mehnagar 353. Madhuban 354. Ghosi 355. Muhammadabad- Gohna 356. Mau 357. Belthara Road 358. Rasara 359. Sikanderpur 360. Phephana 361. Ballia Nagar 362. Bansdih 363. Bairia 373. Jakhanian 374. Saidpur 375. Ghazipur 376. Jangipur 377. Zahoorabad 378. Mohammadabad 379. Zamania
III15 February184. Jagdishpur, 185.Gauriganj 186.Amethi 187. Isauli 188. Sultanpur 189. Sadar 190. Lambhua 191. Kadipur 251. Sirathu 252. Manjhanpur 253. Chail 254. Phaphamau 255. Soraon 256. Phulpur 257. Pratappur 258. Handia 259. Meja 260. Karachhana 261.Allahabad West 262.Allahabad North 263.Allahabad South 264. Bara 265. Koraon 364. Badlapur 365. Shahganj 366. Jaunpur 367. Malhani 368.Mungra Badshahpur 369. Machhlishahr 370. Mariyahu 371. Zafrabad 372. Kerakat 380.Mughalsarai 381. Sakaldiha 382. Saiyadraja 383. Chakia 384. Pindra 385.Ajagara 386. Shivpur 387. Rohaniya 388. Varanasi North 389. Varanasi South 390. Varanasi Cantt. 391. Sevapuri 392. Bhadohi 393.Gyanpur 394.Aurai 395.Chhanbey 396. Mirzapur 397. Majhawan 398. Chunar 399. Marihan 400.Ghorawal 401. Robertsganj 402.Obra 403. Duddhi
IV19 February154. Sawayazpur, 155. Shahabad 156. Hardoi 157.Gopamau 158. Sandi 159. Bilgram Mallanwan 160. Balamau 161. Sandila 162. Bangermau 163. Safipur 164.Mohan 165. Unnao 166. Bhagwantnagar 167. Purwa 168. Malihabad 169. Bakshi Kaa Talab 170. Sarojini Nagar 171. Lucknow West 172. Lucknow North 173. Lucknow East 174. Lucknow Central 175. Lucknow Cantt. 176.Mohanlalganj 177. Bachhrawan 178. Tiloi 179. Harchandpur 180. Rae Bareli 181. Salon 182. Sareni 183. Unchahar 192. Kaimganj 193.Amritpur 194. Farrukhabad 195. Bhojpur 196. Chhibramau 197. Tirwa 198. Kannauj 232. Tindwari 233. Baberu 234. Naraini 235. Banda 236. Chitrakoot 237. Manikpur 238. Jahanabad 239. Bindki 240. Fatehpur 241. Ayah Shah 242. Husainganj 243. Khaga 244. Rampur Khas 245. Babaganj 246. Kunda 247. Vishwanath Ganj 248. Pratapgarh 249. Patti 250. Raniganj
V23 February95.Tundla, 96.Jasrana 97.Firozabad 98.Shikohabad 99.Sirsaganj 100. Kasganj 101.Amanpur 102. Patiyali 103.Aliganj 104. Etah 105. Marhara 106. Jalesar 107. Mainpuri 108. Bhongaon 109. Kishni 110. Karhal 199. Jaswantnagar 200. Etawah 201. Bharthana 202. Bidhuna 203. Dibiyapur 204.Auraiya 205. Rasulabad 206.Akbarpur-Raniya 207. Sikandra 208. Bhognipur 209. Bilhaur 210. Bithoor 211. Kalyanpur 212.Govindnagar 213. Sishamau 214.Arya Nagar 215. Kidwai Nagar 216. Kanpur Cantt. 217. Maharajpur 218.Ghatampur 219. Madhaugarh 220. Kalpi 221.Orai 222. Babina 223. Jhansi Nagar 224. Mauranipur 225.Garautha 226. Lalitpur 227. Mehroni 228. Hamirpur 229. Rath 230. Mahoba 231. Charkhari
VI28 February1. Behat, 2. Nakur 3. Saharanpur Nagar 4. Saharanpur 5. Deoband 6. Rampur Maniharan 7. Gangoh 8. Kairana 9. Thana Bhawan 10.Shamli 11.Budhana 12.Charthawal 13.Purqazi 14.Muzaffar Nagar 15.Khatauli 16.Meerapur 43.Siwalkhas 44.Sardhana 45.Hastinapur 46.Kithore 47.Meerut Cantt. 48.Meerut 49.Meerut South 50.Chhaprauli 51.Baraut 52.Baghpat 53.Loni 54.Muradnagar 55.Sahibabad 56.Ghaziabad 57.Modi Nagar 58.Dhaulana 59.Hapur 60.Garhmukteshwar 61.Noida 62.Dadri 63.Jewar 64.Sikandrabad 65.Bulandshahr 66.Syana 67.Anupshahr 68.Debai 69.Shikarpur 70.Khurja 71.Khair 72. Barauli 73.Atrauli 74.Chharra 75.Koil 76.Aligarh 77.Iglas 78.Hathras 79.Sadabad 80.Sikandra Rao 81.Chhata 82.Mant 83.Goverdhan 84.Mathura 85.Baldev 86.Etmadpur 87.Agra Cantt. 88.Agra South 89.Agra North 90.Agra Rural 91.Fatehpur Sikri 92.Kheragarh 93.Fatehabad 94.Bah
VII3 March17. Najibabad, 18. Nagina 19. Barhapur 20. Dhampur 21. Nehtaur 22. Bijnor 23. Chandpur 24. Noorpur 25. Kanth 26. Thakurdwara 27. Moradabad Rural 28. Moradabad Nagar 29. Kundarki 30. Bilari 31. Chandausi 32. Asmoli 33. Sambhal 34. Suar 35. Chamraua 36. Bilaspur 37. Rampur 38. Milak 39. Dhanaura 40. Naugawan Sadat 41. Amroha 42. Hasanpur 111. Gunnaur 112. Bisauli 113. Sahaswan 114. Bilsi 115. Badaun 116. Shekhupur 117. Dataganj 118. Baheri 119. Meerganj 120. Bhojipura 121. Nawabganj 122. Faridpur 123. Bithari Chainpur 124. Bareilly 125. Bareilly Cantt. 126. Aonla 127. Pilibhit 128. Barkhera 129. Puranpur 130. Bisalpur 131. Katra 132. Jalalabad 133. Tilhar 134. Powayan 135. Shahjahanpur 136. Dadraul 137. Palia 138. Nighasan 139. Gola Gokrannath 140. Sri Nagar 141. Dhaurahra 142. Lakhimpur 143. Kasta 144. Mohammdi

Parties

A total of 223 parties vied for the 403 seats in the legislative assembly. This was an increase compared to the previous election which featured 131 parties who had filed candidates. The parties represented in the previous legislature were:
Bahujan Samajwadi Party
In 2010, INC general secretary Rahul Gandhi was arrested, along with, while he was staging a sit-in in Bhatta Parsaul village in support of farmers agitating against inadequate compensation for the acquisition of their land for a highway project. Though he was released after three hours, INC party members in other parts of the country such as Mumbai's western suburbs of Santacruz, Malad and Borivali protested against his arrest. Amidst the event he said: "I have seen the violence unleashed on your youth and women. By seeing what has happened here, I feel ashamed to be an Indian. The state government is tormenting its own people." Though INC party spokesman Subodh Srivastava said that "several party leaders and workers were injured in the lathicharge by police at a number of places in the state during peaceful protest and demonstration. More than 10,000 workers and leaders were arrested across the state," the UP government said that there was no impact as a result of the INC agitation and that only 135 people had been arrested in apprehension of breach of peace during the ensuing chakka jam in protest against Gandhi's arrest. Mayawati responded also to the Gandhi agitation by saying: "I would like to tell Yuvraj that whatever struggle he has to do, he should do in his home first, as the decision is in the hands of the Centre...It seems that he is not being heard in his own home and he is venting his frustration by indulging in mean dramatics."
The same day his mother, Sonia Gandhi, visited her national constituency of Rae Bareli to review the implementation of such nationally sponsored rural employment and housing schemes as the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act where she called for better implementation of the various schemes such as to ensure that 100 days of employment would be provided to a maximum number of families.
Under the pretext of land acquisition, the action was read as having gathered pace as after other legislative elections. The Times of India read the move as "a bigger favour from jittery chief minister Mayawati" and that the "subsequent free-for-all" included INC staging anti-Mayawati protests as well as BJP leaders trying not to be undone by "also courting trouble" on the basis of "land-related strife everywhere...giving politicians scope for photo ops." It also said that Mayawati may have had a "point in lobbing the land acquisition ball back into the Centre's court" but that attempts to "keeping law and order will only make her opponents look good for being martyred;" while it still question if the INC were "genuinely friends of farmers, tribals, Dalits, et al."

Corruption issues

A Centre for Media Studies report showed that the corruption has increased in UP. The Central Bureau of Investigation said there was "strong evidence" against incumbent Chief Minister Mayawati in a case about
disproportionate assets for a public figure; while Samajwadi party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav also has a case pending against him in a similar case. Out of a total of 403 MLAs, 143 face criminal charges.
The Chief Election Commissioner has raised concerns about the use of money in the election for some form of undue campaigning. After the EC imposed restrictions on the movement of unaccounted money, police checks across UP netted over 120 million in cash, several kilogrammes of silver and weapons, leading to the arrest of at least one person.
The Uttar Pradesh government was also sent a notice by the national government for alleged corruption in MGNREGA. Mayawati, however rejected the allegations as "politically motivated." She has also been accused by former minister Avdesh Verma of selling party tickets in the election for Rs. 40 million. Furthermore, the BSP also expelled Badshah Singh and Babu Singh Kushwaha, who had been removed after CBI evidence of corruption, from the party on charges of corruption.
During the tenure of the incumbent CM Mayawati, opposition parties have accused her of constructing parks and statues of herself and other dalit icons such as Ambedkar and Kanshi Ram in places such as Noida and Lucknow that cost the exchequer crores of rupees in the name of development and social upliftment for dalits. The Uttar Pradesh Government was also criticised by the Supreme Court for not halting the construction of the memorials. despite an order to do so. On 7 January the Chief Election Commissioner S. Y. Quraishi ordered for the veiling of statues of all political figures except for Mohandas Gandhi, as well as veiling the BSP's symbol the elephant, in order to have a "level playing field" by 11 January at 17:00, according to the District Magistrate of Gautam Budh Nagar, though Chief Electoral Officer Umesh Sinha said the deadline was 15 January but the government should try and do so earlier in view of the implementation of code of conduct. However, in Lucknow BSP activists were reported to have removed the a veil minutes after it had been installed. The BSP called the move as "completely wrong" and "not justified." Quraishi dismissed criticism of the order as "ill-informed" and add that he was "surprised has been taken as something unusual. There is a model code of conduct which says there should be a level-playing field for all candidates and parties." On 9 January, social activist Dheeraj Singh filed a PIL in the Allahabad High Court challenging the EC's order on the grounds that the elephants represent Ganesha and veiling them could hurt public sentiment. On 11 January the High Court dismissed the petition as "withdrawn" on technical grounds.

Campaign

The INC's Rahul Gandhi started his campaign on 14 November 2011 before the announcement of the election phases, while Mulayam Singh Yadav started his campaign on 8 January with criticism of the ruling BSP for "corruption and atrocities on people." Rahul Gandhi toured one of the most impoverished area of the country on 17 January, Bundelkhand in Lalitpur. He also visited Mauranipur, Chirgaon, Jhansi and Mahoba, where he was reportedly shown black flags over the issue of black money. He promised to bring change, while also questioning the BSP government's alleged corruption in the MGNREGA scheme. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh addressed a rally in Kanpur on 17 February where he alleged that the U.P. government is not cooperating with the national government in regards to infrastructure development despite receiving five times the funds demanded. He also criticised the incumbent government's alleged corruption and U.P.'s infrastructure woes. "The reason behind this bad situation is that non- Congress governments which came to power in the state in the last 22 years did not pay attention either to governance or the problems of the common man. The Congress will win UP elections. Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi will ensure Congress' victory in UP...we will work with greater strength for the development of UP if the Congress comes to power. There is a need to change this situation. You need a government which changes the shape of UP and focuses on development by rising above caste and religious lines. Congress led by Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi can provide such a government." The INC also got the endorsement of the Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind. After the first three phases of voting the party was said to have been cautious about its expectations of winning the election.
The BJP formally began its campaign on 10 January, but would start hosting public meeting 10 days later. Party leaders from outside UP had been called in to campaign, though many refused to show support for candidates with corruption allegations. These included former PM Atal Behari Vajpayee, Gujarat CM Narendra Modi, former PM-candidate and Home Minister MP Lal Krishna Advani, MP Sushma Swaraj, former Law Minister MP Arun Jaitley. UP MP Murli Manohar Joshi, Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Chhattisgarh CM Raman Singh, Jharkhand CM Arjun Munda, Bihar Deputy CM Sushil Modi, former Rajasthan CM Vasundhara Raje, Ananth Kumar, Ravi Shankar Prasad, Narendra Singh Tomar, party deputy leader in the Lok Sabha Gopinath Munde, party deputy leader in the Rajya Sabha SS Ahluwalia, party Muslim member Shahnawaz Hussain, party vice president Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, MP Shatrughan Sinha, MP Hema Malini, MP Smriti Irani, MP Navjot Singh Sidhu, Kalraj Mishra, Vinay Katiyar, Ramlal, former Foreign Minister MP Yashwant Sinha, former Madhya Pradesh CM and re-inductee into the party Uma Bharti, UP MP Varun Gandhi, Ramapati Ram Tripathi, Kesarinath Tripathi, Ramnath Kovind, Saudan Singh and Radha Mohan Singh. On 16 January, national BJP President Nitin Gadkari released the party manifesto for the election in Lucknow. Part of its promises included creating 15 million jobs within five years, as well providing rice and wheat at a subsidised Rs. 3 and Rs. 2 per kilogramme, respectively. It also included a promise to probe alleged cases of corruption during the tenure of the BSP government. On 18 January, they opted to field Uma Bharti from the Charkari constituency in Mahoba.
Incumbent CM Mayawati began her campaign on 27 January at a rally in Bijnor. On 15 January, she released the BSP's list of candidates for all the 403 constituencies. The list included 88 candidates belonging to SCs, 113 from OBCs, 85 religious minorities and 117 upper castes, out of which 74 are Brahmins.
On 20 January, the Samajwadi Party released its electoral manifesto in Lucknow which included promising reservation for the minorities, a ban on land acquisition and loans of four percent interest to small farmers. Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav got an endorsement from the Shahi Imam of New Delhi's Jama Masjid Syed Ahmed Bukhari, who had appealed to Muslim voters to vote for the SP and alleged that the INC had regressed UP's fortunes.
The anti-corruption group Team Anna also decided to campaign in four of the five provinces that are holding Vidhan Sabha elections, except Manipur; however they said that they would not do so in favour of or against any particular party. They started their campaign in Haridwar on 21 January.

Controversies

The Supreme Court also criticised the UP government for the Land Acquisition Act calling it "an engine of oppression" for the government's low cost acquisition without adequate redress for the villagers, who were then beaten by police. It said that the policy as "anti-poor" and against the interests of the "common man," while citing that after its inception in 1894 it had to be immediately amended. At the same time, INC general secretary Rahul Gandhi toured two villages to start an agitation march against such acquisitions
On 22 December 2011 the national government announced a four and half percent sub-quota for "backward Muslims" as part of an expanded definition of Other Backward Castes in the civil service and at educational institutions, which came into effect on 1 January. BJP leaders Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley strongly objected to the proposal on the grounds that it was "unconstitutional" with the purpose of campaigning to wooing Muslim voters in the election.
On 10 January, Minority Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid was sent a notice by the ECI on a complaint filed by the BJP, led by Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, after Khurshid had said that if the INC was victorious in the election, it would double the quota for Muslims to nine percent. He then reiterated that the comments was a "promise not allurement." The following day the ECI decided to put on hold the sub-quota for minorities till the election ends as it was in violation of the Model Code of Conduct.
The ECI replaced the UP DGP Brij Lal and Home Secretary Fateh Bahadur on 8 January after complaints from other parties that they were partisan on the issue of covering the statues.
On 22 January, the ECI banned exit polls from 28 January to 3 March in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Representation of the People Act, 1951. Opinion polls were also banned 48 hours prior to the voting of each phase in the electronic media, however there was no such restriction on the print media.

Individual candidates

After being fired from the BSP for corruption, Babu Singh Kushwaha, Badshah Singh and Awdhesh Verma joined the BJP. Kushwaha has wanted to join the INC but was blocked by Rahul Gandhi, who criticised the BJP for giving them tickets. Additionally, Daddan Mishra also resigned from the BSP after being denied a ticket to run in the election and consequently joined the BJP.

Opinion polls

All opinion polls indicated a hung assembly.
Poll source and dateBSPSamajwadiBJPINC-RLDOthers
STAR News-Nielsen10113561997
News24108127579417

Election

Almost all the exit polls pointed to a hung assembly with the SP outperforming its rivals while the BSP lost a large share of the seats it previously held. The INC and the BJP also were expected to perform better than the previous election but significantly short of the simple majority mark.
Poll source and dateBSPSPBJPINC-RLDOthers
STAR News-Nielsen83183715111
CNN-IBN65–70232–25028–3836–4411–23
Aaj Tak88–98195–21050–5638–4220

Result

The BSP's CM Mayawati's cabinet approving the dissolution of the Vidhan Sabha assembly on the night of 4 March and sent the recommendation to the Governor for consent. Mulayam Singh Yadav's son and UP president of the Samajwadi Party Akhilesh Yadav was nominated as Chief Minister by the party.