GHMC elections: Brisk polling in city outskirts

RC Puram division on the suburbs registered 67.71 per cent polling, highest under GHMC limits

Hyderabad: When it came to voting, areas usually dubbed the city outskirts and away from the core of Hyderabad, showed more interest in the process, with the RC Puram division on the city suburbs registering 67.71 per cent polling, the highest percentage when compared to the remaining 149 divisions where polling was held amidst tight security during the GHMC elections on Tuesday.

This was against the overall percentage in the GHMC limits of 46.55 per cent. As many as 39 municipal divisions registered 50 and more voting percentage. Officials attributed the highest polling percentage in RC Puram, located on the old Mumbai highway and nearly 30 km from the heart of the city, to more enthusiasm and inclination among voters, especially villagers, to be part of one of the key processes in a democracy. After completing their daily chores, voters stood in long queues in the division from 2 pm to cast their vote.

An official, who supervised the security arrangements, said villagers in RC Puram were known to get involved enthusiastically in elections. The situation was more or the less the same in the nearby Patancheru and Bharathinagar divisions, which recorded 65.77 per cent and 61.89 per cent respectively. One of the reasons for registering significant polling percentage in Patancheru was the distribution of voter slips to every voter in the division. This paved way for voters to cast their vote without any problem, officials said.

Another contributing factor was the heightened security arrangements made for the smooth conduct of the elections. There were peaceful queues in most polling stations from 9 am till 1 pm, and again from 4 pm till voting ended at 6 pm.

Many booths registered more voting from 4 pm onwards, officials said. On the other hand, Yousufguda and Mehdipatnam divisions registered the lowest voting percentage – 32.99 per cent and 34.41 per cent- respectively. Except for voters residing in basthis, those residing in colonies apparently did not evince interest in utilizing their right to vote.

Voters in more than 80 apartments in Yousufguda were believed to have not turned up at the polling booth.

Women voters outshine men in nine divisions

Women voters outshined men in at least nine divisions in casting their votes during the GHMC elections conducted on Tuesday. In the overall figures, however, more men than women came out to vote.

The highest number of women who exercised their franchise was in Mailardevpally division registering 49.78 per cent, followed by the Yousufguda division, which registered the lowest polling percentage compared to all the divisions in the GHMC.

In the overall percentage of polled votes in Yousufguda, women constitute 33.40 per cent while the men were 32.66 per cent. Similarly in Kondapur and Madhapur divisions in the IT hub, women constituted 41.64 per cent and 38.67 per cent respectively in the overall percentage of polled votes while men constituted 41.10 per cent and 38.63 per cent respectively.

The other divisions in which the women outshined men were Uppal, Fatehnagar, Balanagar, Subashnagar and Jagadgirigutta.

On the whole, 48.17 per cent men voted while the voting percentage of women was 44.79.

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