The 12-day long high-voltage campaign by various political parties in the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation might have attracted nation-wide attention, by the people of Hyderabad are as usual not interested in polling that began at 7 am on Tuesday.
As per the latest reports, only 8.9 per cent of voters exercised their franchise in the first four hours of polling in the GHMC elections.
Most of this polling was in the old city and in the newer parts of Hyderabad, people haven’t come to the polling stations to cast their votes.
A quick survey in various polling stations in high profile areas of Banjara Hills, Jubilee Hills, Madhapur, Gachibowli, Kukatpally, Khairatabad, Somajiguda, Begumpet and, Secunderabad has revealed that there were hardly any people in the queues.
Except VVIPs like TRS working president K T Rama Rao, film stars like Chiranjeevi and Nagarjuna, three police commissioners of Hyderabad, Cyberabad and Rachakonda, Union minister G Kishan Reddy, ex-BJP president K Laxman and others, who posed for photographers, there was no hustle-bustle of common voters at the polling stations.
As many as 74.44 lakh voters are expected to decide the fate of 1,122 candidates who are in the fray. Last time, too, the voting percentage was around 40 per cent and this time, too, it appears to be no better.
The kind of enthusiasm shown by parties during the campaign was glaringly missing in the voters. May be fear of Covid-19 has kept the voters away from polling stations, as the authorities imposed stringent restrictions like wearing of masks and social distance.