After the peaceful polls in UP comes the bloody disquiet following the announcement of the election results on Tuesday, with there being no government worth the name in Lucknow.
Since March 6, eight people have died in 17 cases of violence.
Most of these have been clashes between supporters of the SP, which will form the next government, and those of the BSP.
In the Reusha area of Sitapur district, 80 km north of Lucknow, the house of a Dalit was set on fire by supporters of an SP MLA on Thursday. The district police, however, said the incident arose over a dispute on lifting cowdung cakes.
In another incident, Munna Rajbhar, son of transport minister and senior BSP leader Ramachal Rajbhar, shot at Anil Verma, an SP supporter, in Basauli village in Ambedkar Nagar district. SP supporters retaliated by torching a rice mill, hutments, tractors and motorcycles belonging Rajbhar's relatives.
As the Samajwadi Party surged ahead of the rival parties on Tuesday during the counting of votes, SP workers broke the barricade and tried to barge into a counting centre in Jhansi. Media persons covering the event were beaten up and supporters of the SP candidate broke the cameras of the photographers.
The administration, it seems, expected this. Fearing untoward incidents after the announcement of the results, director general of police Atul on Tuesday directed the superintendents of police of all the districts to take preventive measures. But it had little impact.