Hyderabad: It is official now. The city actually voted less on Wednesday than it did in the 2009 elections, the high of statehood and the urging of the Election Commission and myriad campaigns on the social media notwithstanding. The city recorded 53.3 per cent voting on Wednesday, as against 53.86 per cent in 2009.
The city voted so poorly that it dragged down the state overall average. The rest of the eight districts of Telangana, minus Hyderabad, showed an impressive average turnout of 76 per cent, significantly higher than the 2009 elections.
But, taken together with the voting in the city, the number fell to about 70 per cent. Asked about the turnout, BJP Telangana president Kishan Reddy said, “The impressive turnout itself indicates how conscious the people are and want to be the part of the region’s development.”
The largest turnout of voters was recorded at Khammam district at 80.5 per cent, as against 79.2 per cent in 2009. The largest increase in voting 7.98 per cent between two elections was in Medak district, from where TRS chief K. Chandrasekhar Rao contested for both the Assembly and the Lok Sabha polls. The district totalled 77.99 per cent votes.
The voter sloth in the city was not reflected in the neighbouring Ranga Reddy district, where the figure went up by three per cent to 61.11 per cent.
The voting percentage in the districts minus Hyderabad of a piece with many other states.
Kerala recorded 73.4 per cent, Bengal has swung between 78.4 and 82 in different phases, Punjab and Tamil Nadu 73 and Assam 77 per cent.
Only Maharashtra recorded a smaller percentage, at 54 but here, too, the number was pulled down by the poor turnout in Mumbai. MP and Rajasthan, which voted in the Assembly elections recently, also recorded relatively smaller turnouts.
While this is so, the voting in the major metropolises fell way below expectations, given the amount of energy and publicity that had been given to encourage people to vote. Delhi recorded 64 per cent, the highest since 1984, Chennai 61.12 and Bengaluru 54 per cent. But even among these, Hyderabad shared voter infamy with Mumbai, which recorded 54.1 per cent voting.
