Hyderabad: True to form, the city remained indifferent to the high-voltage campaign and did not mobilize in large numbers for the GHMC elections on Tuesday. Still, the final voting percentage was 45.7, the highest in three GHMC polls. It was 45.27% in 2016 and 42.02% in the 2009 surveys.
The vote count refers to 149 out of a total of 150 GHMC divisions – the vote was canceled at Old Malakpet, where the IPC and IPC symbols (M) were exchanged, and will take place on Wednesday. Because a district election was pending, the exit polls did not air Tuesday.
Ramachandrapuram topped the list with 67 percent of the vote, while Yousufguda with 33.03 percent was in last place, according to the State Election Commission (SEC).
As of 5 p.m., of 74,12,601 eligible voters in the city, only 27,22,891 had voted, the State Elections Commission reported. It appears that there was a last minute rush, and the voting was extended in some places until 7.30, which caused a delay in the tabulation of the final figures.
The reasons were said to be many: the nature of the campaign itself, the disappointment of voters in flood-affected areas, many people leaving for the long weekend or those working from home preferring not to move.
In addition to all this, it was suspected that it was the impact of Covid-19, voters were staying away for fear of contracting the infection. Many families who had gone to their places of origin to escape the pandemic did not return in time.
There were also infrastructure problems. All voters did not receive the ballot papers and were instructed to download them from apps that apparently turned out to be difficult. The creation of new polling stations due to Covid-19 guidelines added to the confusion.
Professor K. Nageshwar, a political analyst, said that it was the failure of political parties that gave people no radical alternative to actively vote for. “The agenda of the political parties is contrary to public aspirations. Politics was dominated by rumors of the destruction of cemeteries, Osama bin Laden and slime as the people needed better roads, sanitation, drinking water facilities, drainage system and health. There is an imminent disconnect between what people want and what the parties offer, ”he said.
Professor Nageshwar said that political parties have “killed” local democracy. “Although the office of mayor is reserved for women, none of the political parties put women in the forefront or announced a mayoral candidate. The parties have replicated the Legislative Assembly and Lok Sabha voting model for the GHMC People have already voted twice in the last two years and the parties didn’t give people a good reason why they should go out and vote. “
The vote started on an extremely poor note in the morning. At 9 a.m., the voting percentage was 3.95, and it slowly grew to 11.62 at 11 a.m., 8.35 p.m. at 1 p.m., 29.76 at 3 p.m. and 36.73 percent at 5 in the afternoon, according to data issued by the State Electoral Commission. The percentage of votes could increase by another seven percent, an official said.
Voters from the elderly, the specially trained and very few from the middle class participated in the vote. The non-distribution of the ballots by the GHMC and the SEC prevented many people from voting as they were unable to download them from the Internet. Students stayed away for multiple reasons, from lack of development to a busy weekend
V. Prakash, political analyst and founder of the Prof. Jayashankar Research Foundation, said that the Covid pandemic had forced less involvement in the IT corridor as most people worked from home and gone to their homes. places of origin.
Guest workers from Nalgonda, Mahbubnagar, Srikakulam and several other places never returned for fear of the coronavirus. “The political parties and GHMC encouraged the middle class and young voters to vote. There are multiple reasons such as not delivering voting ballots, changing voting booths, delivering electronic voter ballots through mobile applications ”, he added.
The corporations elected in 2016 appeared to have increased voter disenchantment by failing to resolve local complaints. Despite the TRS warning, the corporations continued their corrupt activities throughout the five years.
GHMC officials said the main reason for the low turnout was the mapping of polling stations. They said that the corporations had mapped polling stations in a different pattern, unlike during the Legislative Assembly elections and the Lok Sabha polls. This led to many voters not finding their names on the voter list and believing that they had been eliminated.
Since election agents and other personnel deployed on short notice, they did not adequately guide voters.
Throughout the day, celebrities, NGOs, and politicians who crossed party lines continually encouraged voters to come out and vote.
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