Despite the high-decibel campaign by major political parties in the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation ballot elections on Tuesday, Hyderabad voters were once again indifferent when it came to voting.
At the close of voting at 6pm, only about 42% of 74.67 lakh voters exercised their right to vote, according to provisional estimates by the Telangana State Electoral Commission authorities.
“At 5 pm, the registered voting percentage was as low as 36.73 and rose another 5-6 percent in the next hour. We are awaiting final divisional figures as there were still some voters in the queue in some divisions at the time of the scheduled close of voting hours, ”said a GHMC official familiar with the development.
Furthermore, voting took place in only 149 out of a total of 150 divisions in the GHMC, as the SEC canceled the vote in the Old Malakpet division following a complaint from the Communist Party of India (CPI) candidate that his party symbol was missing from the ballot.
At verification, it was noted that the CPI (M) party symbol: hammer, sickle and star was printed on the ballot papers, instead of the CPI party symbol of corncobs and sickle.
Following a report by local authorities, the SEC ordered a re-vote at all 69 polling stations in the Old Malakpet division on December 3. The commission also banned the television broadcast and publication of all exit polls in the GHMC elections until Thursday night.
“If the surveys in the Old Malakpet division are also taken into account, the overall survey percentage could go up a bit more,” GHMC officials said.
However, the percentage of votes in the GHMC elections this time will be lower than in 2016, when it was around 45.27%. In 2009, when the GHMC faced the first elections after its formation in 2007, too, the poll percentage was only 42.04.
“The fear of Covid-19 could have forced many people to stay away from the polls, because day after day, the health department has been warning people about the spread of the virus in public places,” said the political analyst and professor at the University of Osmania. K Nageshwar.
He said thousands of people who made a living in Hyderabad had returned to their places of origin due to a lack of job opportunities. Third, many others, such as software professionals who had been given the option of working from home, could have returned to their places of origin, he said.
The Telangana Information Technology Association (TITA), a body of software companies, noted that most of the 5.82 lakh technicians in Hyderabad had left the station. “Nearly 80% of software engineers did not participate in the vote,” said TITA Global President Sandeep Makthala.
BJP state chairman Bandi Sanjay accused the ruler Telangana Rashtra Samithi of deliberately guaranteeing a low voting percentage in hopes of gaining an advantage. “But I am sure that people have put their faith in our party,” said Sanjay.
Acting Chairman of the Pradesh Congress Party, Ponnam Prabhakar, blamed the TRS, BJP and Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen parties for the low percentage of votes. “They ignored the real problems of the people and talked about non-serious issues, so the voters did not show much interest,” he said.
TRS Acting Chairman KT Rama Rao, who called on people to come out in large numbers to vote, did not comment on the low turnout. However, he thanked everyone who had voted for TRS in the elections.
The voting continued peacefully, barring minor incidents of clashes between TRS, BJP and MIM activists. Minor fighting incidents were reported in the Azampura, Ghansi Bazaar, Jangammet, Uppuguda, Karwan and Puranapul divisions in the old city, as well as in areas such as Hastinapuram, Alwal and Kukatpally. The police quickly brought the situation under control.
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