The first phase of polling for the 15th Lok Sabha elections has begun in India. The Lok Sabha elections are being held in five phases from April 16 to May 13.

In the first phase, 143.1 million voters from 17 states and union territories can cast their votes to decide the fate of 124 candidates out of 542 legislators to be elected to the Lok Sabha. In the fray are 1,715 candidates comprising representatives from seven major national and regional parties and other smaller state-level parties and independent candidates. Of these, 122 are women candidates and 1,185 candidates are contesting independently.

Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Jammu and Kashmir, Kerala, Maharashtra, Manipur, Maghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Orissa, Uttar Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Jharkhand, Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Lakshadweep are the states and union territories going to polls in the first phase of elections on April 16, 2009.

The major contenders are Congress and Bahujan Samaj Party which are contesting 111 of the 124 seats in the first phase. The Bharatiya Janata Party has put up its candidates in 102 constituencies.

The first phase of the 15th Lok Sabha elections involves 900,000 poll staff deployed at 185,552 polling booths. In the first phase 300,166 electronic voting machines are being used to register the votes of the electorates.

In Mirzapur district of the north Indian state of Uttar Pradesh which is roughly 80 km southeast of Allahabad and some 60 km southwest of Varanasi, the voter turnout is too poor to be reported. Uttar Pradesh is the most populous state in India. With 80 out of the 542 seats, it has the largest chunk of seats in the Lok Sabha.

In the hilly Akhoda area which is a cluster of 16 villages in Mirzapur with a population of 30,000 people and 15,000 voters, there are three polling booths. The security of booths are being handled by police personnel requisitioned from the neighbouring state of Haryana and home guards. Mirzapur district has a total of some 1,500,000 voters in the voters’ list.

Taken together, the three polling booths have seen some 30 voters in the first four hours beginning seven in the morning when the booths were thrown open for voters. The polling booths will close at five in the evening.

Asked about the poor turnout at the polling booths, Ramji Bhind, a resident of Akhoda gave an evasive response. “What do we get from elections?” he asked. “We would rather go to work and earn some money than spend our time on voting,” he added. This gives the impression that the local population is not interested in the nation’s most important election.

In sharp contrast to this, over 10,000 of the 15,000 voters turn up to vote in local Panchayat elections to choose the village chief (Pradhan).

In view of this, it was surprising to see an 80-year-old lady, Brij Rani Singh, who was brought in a car and carried to the polling booth in Charedu Chaukata village by her son for voting. Brij Rani is totally blind and had suffered a paralytic attack earlier.

Marihaan, Aharauda, Rajgarh, Shaktiraag are naxal-infested areas in Mirzapur which are considered to be sensitive. Naxals or Naxalites are militants who subscribe to communist ideology. In all 23,000 areas have been identified as vulnerable areas in the first phase of polling. People prefer to stay indoors and see the day through in these areas rather than venture out to vote, for fear of the gun.

These are early hours of the day and too early to arrive at conclusions. Voting intensifies as the day progresses and it is not uncommon to see huge crowds at the polling booths as the day draws to a close.