Ahmedabad civic polls: East, Old City vote big; West slips

Ahmedabad: In the municipal corporation elections held on Sunday, Ahmedabad recorded an average voter turnout of 45.7%. Wards in the Old City and eastern parts of the city registered higher turnout compared to the city average. Notably, wards such as Shahpur, Dariapur, Jamalpur and Khadia, which have a sizeable Muslim voter base, logged higher participation than the average. Similarly, Muslim-majority wards including Behrampura, Danilimda and Maktampura also recorded above-average turnout. Gomtipur ward topped the chart with a turnout of 62.4%. In contrast, 16 of the 18 wards in the western part of the city recorded lower-than-average turnout, with exceptions such as Sarkhej and Maktampura, which exceeded the average.From early Sunday morning, long queues were seen at polling stations in Muslim-dominated areas of Ahmedabad. Turnout stood at 56.1% in Dariapur, 49% in Bapunagar, 54.8% in Shahpur, 51.4% in Saraspur, 56.0% in Khadia, 52.8% in Jamalpur, 47.5% in Sarkhej, 60.8% in Maktampura, 58.2% in Behrampura, 56.0% in Danilimda and 62.4% in Gomtipur. Against the overall average turnout of 45.7%, wards with a significant Muslim voter base recorded turnout ranging from 1.8% to 16.7% higher. On the other hand, voter turnout in western areas was 40.2% in Gota, 39.8% in Chandlodia, 42% in Chandkheda, 44.6% in Sabarmati, 41.4% in Ranip, 40.2% in Nava Vadaj, 44.4% in Ghatlodia, 42% in Thaltej, 40.9% in Naranpura and 38.8% in Sardar Patel Stadium. In the western wards of Navrangpura, Bodakdev, Jodhpur, Paldi, Vasna and Vejalpur too, turnout remained below the average across all 48 AMC wards. However, Sarkhej recorded 47.5% and Maktampura 60.8%, both higher than the city average by 1.8% to 15.1%. High turnout among Muslim voters during Sunday's elections is believed to have been fuelled by anxiety and rumours linked to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process.In areas such as Danilimda, Jamalpur, Dariapur, Ramol and Maktampura, long queues were seen outside polling booths despite the scorching heat. Several voters feared that skipping the first election after the SIR could result in their names being deleted from the electoral rolls. Ramol resident Mohammed Sharif Malekm said, "A rumour started circulating a few days ago and many people believed that voting had been made compulsory." Musaib Shaikh, a resident of Shahpur, said there was widespread anxiety among voters. "Many people who had not checked whether their names figured in the voter list after the SIR wanted to verify if their names were present on the electoral rolls," he said. Ejaz Qureshi from Maktampura said apprehension among people was high. "People are so anxious that they do not want to miss participation in any process linked to their citizenship status," he said.
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