2 lakh more vote in Hyderabad Lok Sabha poll, spurt keeps parties guessing

HYDERABAD: For the first time in 20 years, Hyderabad Lok Sabha constituency has seen voter turnout crossing 10 lakh, leaving two major parties - AIMIM and BJP - doing their own calculations on the likely result.

Nearly two lakh more votes were polled in the May 13 election compared to the 2019 parliamentary poll in Hyderabad. To be precise, the 1,96,886 lakh more votes polled in the election three days ago has triggered a debate in the political circles as to which way the electors have swung this time. In all, 10,74,827 votes were polled this time against 8,77,941 in 2019 polls and the poll percentage increased to 48.48 as against 44.84 in the last election.

All the leaders, including AIMIM president and sitting MP Asaduddin Owaisi, BJP candidate K Madhavi Latha, Muslim and civil society organisations, and the Election Commission made numerous appeals to the people to come out and vote, as Hyderabad has gained the dubious distinction of recording low voting percentages over the years. Both Owaisi and Latha raised the campaign pitch and political heat with allegations and counter-allegations against each other.

Experts said the bow and arrow gesture of Latha symbolically aimed towards a mosque, Owaisi raising the issues of UCC, NRC, NPR, PM Modi's mangalsutra comment and future of Muslims and BJP MP Navneet Kaur Rana's '15 seconds' remark made the battle intriguing and made the people come out and exercise their franchise.


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