The curious case of Telangana’s limited polling hours

However, the voting hours are from 7 am to 5 pm in the North Eastern Region, 7 am to 4 pm in Manipur and Nagaland along with certain other constituencies.

Hyderabad: Telangana’s polling hours, from 7 am to 5 pm, is turning into a curious case, with most other States, including the neighbouring Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra, having an extra hour till 6 pm to vote.

Only left wing extremism-affected and sensitive areas in those States have restricted voting hours, unlike in Telangana, where it is 5 pm across the State and till 4 pm in LWE affected areas here.

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Though the extra hour could prompt more people to head to the polling station, especially those who work till 5 pm and those hesitant to venture out and stand in queues under the sweltering sun, why the extra hour has been cut here remains unknown.

Interestingly, election authorities who are trying to increase the polling percentage with widespread campaigns, have for strange reasons restricted the polling hours in Telangana till 5 pm as the State goes to the hustings on May 13. So far, the ECI has issued election notifications for four of the seven phases of polling to be held across the country. Accordingly, the general voting hours are from 7 am to 6 pm.

However, the voting hours are from 7 am to 5 pm in the North Eastern Region, 7 am to 4 pm in Manipur and Nagaland along with certain other constituencies.

In LWE affected areas and also certain sensitive areas, the voting hours are truncated by one or two hours to enable polling staff return to headquarters safely.

On April 18, the Election Commission issued a Gazette notification for the fourth phase of the general elections in 96 Lok Sabha seats across 10 States, including Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, and Jammu and Kashmir.

While the polling will be held from 7 am to 6 pm in the neighbouring AP, Maharashtra and several of the other States, the closing hours in those States have been restricted to 4 pm or 5 pm only in sensitive or remote areas considering logistic issues.

Telangana is the only State to have voting hours till 5 pm in areas even in cities and regions that are not extremist-affected. Polling hours in Telangana’s extremist affected areas and sensitive Assembly segments of Adilabad, Peddapalli, Warangal, Mahabubabad and Khammam parliamentary constituencies end at 4pm.

Ironically, the polling hours are till 6 pm even in the Srinagar parliamentary constituency of Jammu and Kashmir, but end at 5 pm in Hyderabad and Secunderabad parliamentary constituencies. Telangana had witnessed a poor voter turnout during the 2018 Assembly elections with 73.73 per cent, which further declined to 62.11 per cent in the 2019 General Elections.

The State recorded a turnout of 71.34 per cent during the recent Assembly elections in December 2023, with all these elections having the polling timings restricted to 5 pm.

This time, even as temperatures are hovering around and above 45 degrees Celsius in several areas, with such conditions sure to decrease voter participation, the polling booths still will be shut to voters at 5 pm.

“The Election Commission of India is making all efforts to improve polling percentage in the State. But considering the soaring temperatures, all these efforts might turn futile unless the Election Commission extends voting hours on par with other States,” BRS senior leader Dasoju Sravan told Telangana Today.

With an extended hour to play a crucial role in encouraging people to come out to vote as the temperatures dip a bit, and also help many who might have work till 5 pm, Sravan said the party would take up the issue with the ECI for necessary action.

hough Telangana Chief Electoral Officer Vikas Raj was not available for comment, a senior official in the CEO’s office stated that the polling hours are usually from 7 am to 5 pm, excluding certain sensitive areas, which has been the practice since Telangana was formed.

The same timing was proposed to the Election Commission, which accepted, he said, adding that they were unaware of the reasons cited by other States for extended hours till 6 pm.