Voters’ long trek to polling booths in Telangana

HYDERABAD: Come April 30, a large number of voters across the Telangana region, who live far away from polling booths, will probably have to depend on transport arranged by candidates.
Worried at such a possibility arising, which could allow contestants to influence voters, activists in some areas have approached the election commission to arrange vehicles to ferry voters in remote areas to polling booths.For instance, a substantial 3,000 voters residing in Rajeev Swagruha apartments in Tandur town will have to travel a distance of three kilometres to cast their vote. The residential area, located on the outskirts of the town in Ranga Reddy district, falls under the Chevella parliamentary constituency. In the just-concluded municipal polls, they were provided transport by candidates.
But it’s not just Tandur’s residents alone, who will have to tread a long distance to vote. There are 19 villages, all tribal hamlets in Mahbubnagar district, with a considerable 2,459 voters, including 215 senior citizens, where there are no polling booths. These residents will have to trek anywhere between three kilometers to a mind-boggling 20 kilometers to cast their vote. “There is a village called Mallapoor in Amrabad mandal in Mahbubnagar district where 36 voters will have to traverse 20 kilometers to reach the nearest polling booth,” said P Nagender Swamy, who complained to the election commission about the difficulties of these people, but did not get any response.
Another village called Erlapenta in Lingal mandal where there are 65 voters, the nearest polling booth is 16 kilometers away in Appapoor. There are eight villages in Lingal mandal, where there are no polling booths. Amrabad mandal has six villages, including Bapanpahad and Piligundlapenta, where there are no polling booths. According to the State Election Watch, during the recent municipal elections, contesting candidates provided transport to 3,000 residents of Tandur, although the rules prohibit political parties or candidates to arrange vehicles to ferry voters to polling booths.