Opposition parties fail to make a mark in Lok Sabha, Assembly by-elections
The average poll was 36 per cent compared to 49.5 per cent in January 1980. In Allahabad no more than 26 per cent exercised their franchise; in Mirzapur, the figure was 28 per cent.
This was not to be. In Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Orissa and Karnataka, no Opposition party managed to win a single seat. As in 1980, only the Marxist-ruled state of West Bengal prevented the sweep from being complete, winning six of the eight Assembly seats, and the lone Serampore Lok Sabha seat for which by-elections were held.
The main reason for the debacle suffered by the non-communist opposition was, as usual, its disunity (India Today, June 1-15). In Uttar Pradesh, in two Lok Sabha and five Assembly constituencies, the major opposition parties together pulled in more votes than the Congress(I). For instance, in Bareilly, Santosh Kumar Gangwar of the BJP, Mohd Yunus Salim of the Congress(U) and Badam Singh of the Lok Dal together polled 124,676 votes to the 114,231 collected by the Congress(I)'s Begum Abida Ahmed.
In Patiali Assembly constituency, Genda Lal of the BJP and Jasbir Singh of the Lok Dal polled an impressive 12,000 votes more than winner Malik Mohd Zamir Ahmed of the Congress(I). In Cuttack parliamentary constituency in Orissa, a united opposition put up a good fight. Its common candidate Rabi Ray, former Union minister for health, lost by less than 50,000 votes to Jayanti Patnaik, wife of Orissa Chief Minister J. B. Patnaik. Last year, Patnaik had won the seat with an imposing majority of more than 125,000 votes.
Low Turnout:Although the Congress(I) poured a huge amount of resources and money into the campaign - in an unprecedented move, Mrs Gandhi herself hit the campaign trail for six days - voter turnout was apathetic. The average poll was 36 per cent compared to 49.5 per cent in January 1980. In Allahabad no more than 26 per cent exercised their franchise; in Mirzapur, the figure was 28 per cent.