Voters irked by poor arrangements

Hyderabad, Nov. 23: Congested polling booths with poor lighting made voting in the GHMC elections a hassle for citizens of Amberpet, Himayatnagar, Nallakunta, Ramanthapur and Malakpet.

Even the polling staff at these places complained of suffocation.

Voters panned officials for failing to identity suitable polling booths despite the availability of spacious buildings like government schools and offices in these areas. Some polling booths were set up in congested private schools located in commercial complexes.

In some areas, booths were set up in small rooms where election staff and voters shared the table on which electronic voting machines (EVMs) were placed and voter compartments made using newspapers.

“Polling staff could see who had voters voted for. There was no secrecy whatsoever,” said Mr Durga Prasad, a candidate.

Local leaders of various political parties blamed these problematic booths for poor turn-out of voters. They said booths identified for the General Elections in April were comparatively better. The officials’ resorting to indiscriminate shifting of booths also led to chaos among voters, they said.

Polling booths set up in posh areas such as Jubilee Hills, Banjara Hills, Panjagutta too lacked basic facilities.

“Though there are plenty of spacious government buildings in Jubilee Hills, officials selected a BSNL office which was in bad shape. Two booths here had concrete debris strewn near the entrance which hassled senior citizens when they came to vote,” said Ms A. Narsimha Murthy, a senior citizen.