The voting percentage in the Tirupati Assembly Constituency on Friday declined to 50 per cent from the 59.5 per cent in the 2014 general elections. The voting pace was sluggish throughout the day and it touched a new low with less than one third of the total electorate going out to cast their vote by 1 p.m.
Of the total voter strength of 2,94,993 in the assembly segment, a mere 93,073 voters turned out for polling by 1 p.m., which comes to 31.57 per cent.
Till 9 a.m, the number of votes polled across the constituency was 26,285, forming a mere 8.92 per cent. It grew to 42,700 votes (14 p.c.) by 10 a.m, 61,175 (20.7 p.c.) by 11 a.m. and 79,712 (27.04 p.c.) by 12 noon.
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The inanimate polling stations and the virtually non-existent crowd in the queue lines right from the morning came as a clear foreboding of a sluggish polling. In fact, the election staff, agents of the candidates and the armed policemen guarding the polling stations outnumbered the voters in several booths.
As feared by the political parties, the typical urban indifference was visible. The attendance was so thin that the District Election Officer and the Collector Siddharth Jain himself had to appeal through SMS and media scrolls to the voters to exercise their franchise. “As the turnout is low, senior citizens and mothers carrying infants need not fear waiting in queue lines. Please come and cast your vote”, Mr. Jain said.
The suburban Muthyala Reddy Palle and the Jeevakona area dominated by working classes witnessed better turnout than at the polling stations in the core city.
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General disinterest among the voters is due to the timing of the by-election, many feel. Coming less than a year after the 2014 general elections, the by-poll has clearly failed to arouse interest among the voters. Most women stayed indoors for the Friday prayers and exercised their franchise after the lunch hour.
The TDP’s M. Suguna cast her vote at a polling station in Chenna Reddy Colony area, while R. Sreedevi of Congress voted in her Korlagunta locality. Mild tension was witnessed as Ms. Sreedevi alleged rigging by the ruling party supporters in the polling stations at Pandit Nehru High School near SVIMS and at Dr. Rama Naidu High School in Bairagipatteda.
Meanwhile, some film buffs suspected to be fans of actor NTR smashed the windowpanes of Jayasyam Theatre in the city, following the closure of the cinema hall for elections, where his movie ‘Temper’ released today. The film buffs said the theatre management had screened midnight and early hour shows for the fans, but closed down the regular shows.