Whether it is the assembly or general elections, voters in Hyderabad city constituencies seemingly remain indifferent, say observers. The number of voters who showed up in the Telangana Lok Sabha polls on May 13 is 3,32,32,318. A few of the constituencies that registered low voter turnout in the elections this year are:
- Malakpet: 38.3%
- Yakutpura: 42.7%
- Chandrayangutta: 45.19%
- Charminar: 48.53%
- Bahadurpura: 48.7%
- Goshamahal: 49%
A few observers are attributing the low voter turnout in these areas to the fact that Andhra settlers in Hyderabad went to neighbouring Andhra Pradesh to vote in the assembly and Lok Sabha elections held simultaneously there.
However, if we examine the data for voter turnout in these constituencies in the assembly polls in 2023, the difference in voter turnout is not high.
The number of voters for the assembly elections in 2023 was 3,17,17,389. The polling percentage in the above constituencies was:
- Malakpet: 41.53%
- Yakutpura: 39.77%
- Chandrayangutta: 45.51%
- Charminar: 43.38%
- Bahadurpura: 45.39%
- Goshamahal: 54.78%
Hyderabad’s twin city Secunderabad too registered a low polling percentage, displaying the lethargy of the urban voter.
Under Secunderabad Lok Sabha constituency, the only seats that crossed 50% polling percentage were Secunderabad (53.05) and Amberpet (50.12). In the rest of the seats, less than half of the electors cast their vote:
- Musheerabad: 45.25%
- Khairatabad: 49.8%
- Jubilee Hills: 45.69%
- Sanathnagar: 49.41%
- Nampally: 45.37%
In the assembly elections too, a similar trend was noticed. While Secunderabad registered a 53.56 polling percentage, the other seats saw low turnouts:
- Amberpet: 52.86%
- Musheerabad: 50.78%
- Khairatabad: 52.33%
- Jubilee Hills: 47.58%
- Sanathnagar: 51.5%
- Nampally: 46.76%
In the fourth phase of the Lok Sabha polls, Hyderabad registered the lowest polling percentage of 45.07 by 5 pm. Secunderabad scored 42.48% and Malkajgiri 46.27%.
Telangana recorded an approximate voter turnout of 61.39% for the 17 Lok Sabha seats in the state, according to Election Commission data.
State Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Vikas Raj said an inquiry is going on into some complaints that have been received.
The Collector of Hyderabad district said on social media site X that a case has been registered in Malakpet Police Station against BJP candidate Madhavi Latha, under different sections of the IPC and the Representation of the People Act. This follows an allegation that she checked the identity of burqa-clad women voters by asking them to show their faces.
The BJP candidate said she had only requested the women to verify their identity and there was nothing wrong with that. “I am a candidate. As per law, a candidate has the right to check the ID cards without the facemasks. I am not a man, I am a woman and with a lot of humbleness, I have only requested them – can I please see and verify with the ID cards? If somebody wants to make a big issue out of it, that means they are scared,” she said.
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