A red carpet welcome for voters in Hyderabad

HYDERABAD: A small but privileged number of voters had a red carpet welcome when they arrived at their polling station to vote on Wednesday, literally! If that wasn’t enough, they were even served a glass of chilled sherbet while most others in the city sweated it out in long queues.
These lucky ones were among the bunch of voters who turned up at one of 41 model polling stations set up by the GHMC across the 15 constituencies, where the electorate was treated like royals.Lemonade was given to provide respite to parched throats while those manning helpdesks at the entrance politely guided voters to the polling station, instead of rushing them or turning them away in case their names did not figure on the lists. These locations also had enough parking space and toilet facilities for people. Most importantly the privileged few found themselves a place to sit — a stark contrast to the more than three quarters of the remaining stations where voters had to wait as long as a couple of hours for their turn. Staff working at such locations also had it easier compared to those at other polling stations, thanks to the comfortable rooms and shades. “EC wanted to convey what shape all polling stations should take in the future. This was the guiding objective behind setting up these polling stations,” a senior GHMC official said.
Most of the voters in the other 3,500 odd polling stations across the city were not so lucky. Without ample shade and water, scores of people fainted or experienced giddiness. Closure of establishments only made it difficult, particularly for those who had come a long way to vote. “The system should be automated. After standing in the heat and all the searching, it is most frustrating when the name is not there in the list even if you are registered voter,” said Shaik Jaffer, a resident of Barkas whose quarrel with the polling staff at Barkas Girls High over absence of his name in the electoral polls, only proved vain.
Not surprisingly, model stations failed to break the jinx of lower urban-voter turnout though notable improvements over last time were seen in some of them, particularly up market areas like Jubilee Hills and Banjara Hills. At the Film Nagar Culture Club staff reported 48% turnout. The last time, the polling station saw only 34% of voters exercising their right.
\ Polling agents of parties stationed at such booths were, however, clearly not happy. “There has been very little activity since 2 pm,” said an agent at the Film Nagar Club. Another polling station that saw improved turnout this time was the Salivahana Welfare Association which recorded 49% turnout, well below the 53% average turnout for Jubilee Hills constituency.