INDIA’S most populous state went to the polls today in a contest pitting the scion of the Gandhi political dynasty against the ruling party of local low-caste leader Mayawati.
Rahul Gandhi, whose family has dominated post-independence Indian politics, has led campaigning for the Congress party in politically vital Uttar Pradesh (UP) in a key test of his ability to become a national leader.
The 41-year-old is widely seen as a prime minister-in-waiting, but he faces a tough task reviving the fortunes of Congress in a state where the party has been out of power for 22 years and was trounced in the last elections in 2007.
Arrayed against him is the formidable and mercurial figure of chief minister Mayawati, a low-caste populist who inspires a devoted following from those at the bottom of India’s strict social order.
She trumpets her efforts to fight discrimination and improve the lives of the poor and marginalised, but her administration also stands accused by critics of rampant corruption and wasting public funds on vast urban landscaping projects.
She has built statues of low-caste icons – including herself – in huge parks in the state capital, with total expenditure estimated officially at more than a billion dollars.
“I get angry when I see UP lagging behind the rest of the country,” declared Gandhi last week.
Seventeen million people are expected to vote on today for a new state assembly in the first phase of the local elections that will be held in five stages until February 18. Results will be announced on March 6.
No accurate polling data exists, but the main contest is between Mayawati’s Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), another regional caste-based group the Samajwadi Party (SP), Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party.
In Barabanki, about 35 kilometres (20 miles) from Lucknow, morning rain put off early voters but their numbers had swelled by the afternoon.
State Chief Electoral Officer Umesh Sinha put turnout in the first six hours at nearly 30 per cent.
“We have seen enough of the SP and BSP and it’s time we give a chance to the Congress that has been out of power for a long time,” 65-year-old Mohammed Zahir Akhtar, a retired government employee, told reporters.
“Rahul Gandhi shows some promise.”
What happens in caste-riven UP, where politicians have also courted the large Muslim minority community – seen as vital to electoral success – will influence the government at the national level.
The state will send 80 members to the 552-seat parliament in the next national elections due in 2014 and a poor performance by Congress would damage Gandhi, as well as under-fire Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh.
