The signal was green near Godhra station

<div class="section1"><div class="Normal">GODHRA: Unlike the Assembly election of 2002, the hordes were missing from election booths of Signal Falia of Godhra, made infamous by the burning of the Sabarmati Express.<br /><br />On Tuesday, women clad in ‘burqas’ and men in skullcaps standing in long queues, were missing. But that did not mean that residents of the minority-dominated areas of Vohravada, Kasaivada, Pollan Bazaar and Signal Falia did not vote.They trickled out in small numbers from the narrow by-lanes from early morning and the pattern continued till the poll drew to a close at 5 pm. By the end of the day, a substantial number from the minority community, had cast their vote.<br /><br />A visit to nearly 20 polling booths in Signal Falia between 2 pm and 4 pm, showed that of 18,163 voters, nearly 10,845 had exercised their franchise. As per statistics from the election office, voter turnout at 3 pm in Godhra town, stood at 45 per cent.<br /><br />Residents of Signal Falia remember the panic they had created two years back by thronging the booths. It had led many fence-sitters to vote for the BJP and dump the Congress, in the process nullifying the impact they could have had, they say. Instead, this time they felt that it was better to come out in small numbers.<br /><br />“As such there is no enthusiasm among people but we are being forced to do so as we belong to the minority community,� states Iqbal Shafi, a resident of Signal Falia. “The sore point among the minority community here is that none of the Congress leaders have visited our place since prominent leaders like Kalota were arrested in the Godhra carnage incident.However,we don’t have a choice and as far as adopting a familiar pattern is concerned, we have been instructed by our leaders to do so.�<br /><br />Godhra City Congress president and lawyer Yakub Bhatuk states, “People are not taking as much interest in elections as they did earlier. The heat has also played a major role.�<br /><br /><formid=526372></formid=526372></div> </div>