lucknow uttar pradesh voted with a vengeance as polls got underway on wednesday with voters braving rain and waterlogged streets to post a record 62 turnout and possibly signaling a mood for change voting took place in the first phase across 55 constituencies in 10 districts the surge in the numbers was fuelled by young voters who this time make up for a third of the total electorate in 2007 the state witnessed only 46 polling the election commission said 62 polling was the highest since independence beating the 5713 polled in 1993 when sp and bsp joined hands against the bjp after the babri masjid demolition this time the increase in voters was witnessed in both urban and rural areas though it was the urban middle class which came out in much higher numbers to vote compared to 2007 the districts which went to poll included sitapur barabanki faizabad ambedkarnagar bahraich shravasti balrampur gonda sidharthnagar and basti the region is rich in agriculture but highly backward in 1993 the same 10 districts had only polled 4636 votes in 31 of the 55 constituencies which went to polls the muslim population is over 20 with all political parties barring bjp aggressively wooing muslims the turnout was high long queues were seen outside polling booths in muslimdominated areas sixtyfiveyearold bilkis bano in kasimpur village of gonda was out despite a massive downpour to cast her vote pani tou barasta rahega par vote dubara thodi hee dali payenge it will continue to rain but we will not get another opportunity to vote she said similar scenes were witnessed in muslimdominated villages in sitapur barabanki balrampur basti and bahraich the turnout of urban middle class was also encouraging mahant sarjukunj in ayodhya yugul kishore said that after the ram temple movement in the late 1980s this is the first time he has seen the middle class coming out to vote in such large numbers in barabanki city 70yearold phoobali not only came to cast her vote but also brought her five daughtersinlaw to exercise their franchise yahi tou mauka hai netayon ko sabak sikhane ka this is the time when we can teach lessons to politicians she said kunti devi 65 in khairabad sitapur said that she has come to vote for change we want development she said the youth though were the most enthusiastic of the lot both in urban and rural areas they also appeared to care the least about caste and communal factors i am not voting for any party but a candidate you can hold a candidate responsible the next time he comes back to ask for votes but parties fool us by changing candidates and raising unnecessary caste and communal issues said ramhet in bharkhamau village in barabanki sumedha gupta a medical student pursuing her course in lucknow took leave to go to barabanki to cast her vote i am inspired by anna hazare we need to vote to keep the corrupt out she said chief electoral officer