Serpentine queues witnessed early in the day

Electronic voting machines for Assembly constituency at a polling station of Dabeerpura were replaced two hours after scheduled start, but the EVMs meant for Lok Sabha constituency remained defunct in Hyderabad on Wednesday. PHOTO: G_RAMAKRISHNA

Early voters managed to escape the hot sun and long queues. That appeared to be the general perception among voters in the city and suburbs given the comparatively good turnout at several polling stations in the first few hours.

Polling commenced at 7 a.m. and some polling stations started receiving the first bunch of voters earlier than anticipated. Two senior citizens were spotted walking away from a booth close to Serilingampally around 7.25 a.m. and one of them, Lakshmi Rajyam said, “We continued our morning walk to cast our vote.”

Vengalrao Nagar Government School had 900 voters and within two hours, 187 voters had exercised their franchise. “More than 20 per cent have already voted here and they are clearly keen on avoiding the sun,” quipped a poll official. A similar situation was witnessed at Corporate Training Institute, where 247 of 1,752 votes were cast within two hours. At Jubilee Hills Public School, voting was delayed due to EVM problems and those who came to cast their votes ended up waiting for more than an hour. At Brilliant School in Yellareddyguda, Rajaskehar came around 8.30 a.m. and was still waiting for his turn at 10.15 a.m. “Apparently, many other voters thought like me and came early,” he laughed.

Facilities go for a toss

At some of the polling stations, the promised basic minimum facilities went for a toss and poll personnel and voters faced hardships. One polling station at Narayanguda was hardly lit and some others did not have even a single fan. “There is a holder here but no bulb. I have been making requests since last evening but in vain,” a poll officer lamented at S.R. Nagar.

The poll station at St. Mary’s School at Shantinagar had long lines forming around noon and voters had a tough time in the small cramped place. “It was suffocating inside the hall,” complained Syed Khaja Mohiuddin, a senior citizen. At Talabkatta, the promised shamiyanas to provide shelter were missing and voters ended up in the hot sun.

One of the poll personnel at Goshamahal complained of lack of basic minimum facilities and said, “There is no drinking water or toilets here.” However, the model polling station at Jubilee Hills Cultural Centre literally rolled out a red carpet for the voters and even offered them a glass of lime juice inside the air-conditioned hall!