Despite intense campaign and an unprecedented awareness drive carried out by the district authorities, nearly half of voters in Hyderabad district have decided to stay indoors and did not cast their vote on April 30.
The Hyderabad district recorded 53%, while Rangareddy district saw 60% polling.
The polling continued beyond 6 PM in many Assembly constituencies as some voters reached polling stations before 6 PM and were found standing in the queue. As per the directions of the Election Commission of India, voters who join the queue before 6 PM would be allowed to cast votes and the polling would continue till all citizens exercise their franchise. They include PS No 4 and 56 in Edi Bazar, 120/A at Uppuguda and 97 in Hafeezbaba Nagar.
The turnout in the morning was poor, but it picked up later. Till 9 AM, the turnout in Hyderabad Lok Sabha constituency was just 8.85%. It increased in the later hours. It was 16.17% by 11 am, 28.41% by 1 pm, 40.14% by 3 pm, 46.57% by 4 pm and it closed at 52.79% by 6 pm in Hyderabad seat.
The overall polling percentage in Hyderabad district with 15 Assembly and two Lok Sabha seats was 53.03% votes. Among the Assembly constituencies, Secunderabad segment recorded the highest (58%) while Nampally logged the lowest with just 50%. Musheerabad and Amberpet registered 55% each, Charminar and Malakpet 54%, Bahadurpura, Jubilee Hills and Sanathnagar around 53%. Karwan, Goshamahal, Yakutpura and Chandrayangutta constituencies recorded 52% each.
With regard to Rangareddy district, the average turnout was around 60% by 5 pm with the Chevella Assembly segment recording the highest poll percentage 73%, Vikarabad constituency 68.50%, in Parigi 65.36% voters exercised their franchise by 5 pm. Interestingly, the complete urban segment in Rangareddy district, Serlingampally recorded only 50% voter turnout. Semi-urban Assembly segments Rajendranagar recorded 59.30%, while it was 52.12 % in Maheshwaram constituency.
The lower voter turnout has increased the worries of all political parties. For instance, in Nampally constituency, any candidate who had secured just a little over 25% of votes would win the election. The constituency had witness a straight contest between Jaffer Hussain Meraj of MIM and Feroz Khan of TDP. Both the candidates were strong and had put in all efforts to win the voters’ confidence during campaign. However, both failed to pull out half of the voters to the polling stations.
The equation turned too fragile for the constituencies like Jubilee Hills which witnessed a triangular contest between the Congress, YSRCP and MIM.
Immediately after the end of polling, all the political parties held emergency meetings and by taking inputs from their polling agents, they arrived at their own conclusions. While some parties were unable to sense the voters’ decision in some seats, they expected favourable results in other seats.
With the Election Commission imposing a ban on Exit Polls, now all the parties and candidates are desperately waiting for May 16 to know the results of Exact Polls.