Low turnout in Muslim-dominated localities

Muslim men and women queued at polling booths in

Juhapura

, one of the largest Muslim ghettoes in India, and in the walled city areas. The walled city, however, saw the lowest turnout in the Ahmedabad West seat. Booths in the Dariapur assembly segment also saw low turnout till the afternoon, which picked up somewhat later in the day.


However, turnout in Muslim-dominated areas was lower than the average for the parliamentary constituency. The Jamalpur-Khadia assembly segment, where Muslims make up a majority, saw a turnout of just over 52%, against the 58% average for Ahmedabad West.

Similarly, the Vejalpur assembly segment, includes most of Juhapura-Sarkhej, saw a 60% turnout, against the nearly 65% turnout for the Gandhinagar LS seat.

Forty-eight-year-old Mohammed Nisar of Jamalpur said, “We are voting for development issues in Muslims areas, which have been neglected. We wish the slogan ‘sabka sath, sabka vikas’ becomes reality. We want to live in harmony with our Hindu brothers.”

The central government’s bid to bring in legislation to regulate the practice of divorce among Muslims also weighed heavily with women voters.