HYDERABAD: Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) is the man of the moment in Telangana. He is the man entrusted with conducting the first Assembly elections in Telangana, India’s youngest State. Kumar, in a free-wheeling chat with the editorial team of The New Indian Express on Sunday, explained the challenges his office has faced over the past couple of months, the solutions to address them and his action-plan for the coming few weeks.
Discussing voter turnout trends in Hyderabad, Kumar observed that the city has never witnessed more than 54 per cent turnout. “I would like to break that record this time,” the CEO said. He said that his office was set to announce an innovative programme to appeal to urban professionals. “We (CEO’s office) are working on reaching out to companies registered with the labour department. We will also speak to IT bodies such as HYSEA and SCSC who can appeal to tech professionals to go out and vote,” he said. Further, he added, he would send personalised letters to management of all MNCs to encourage their workforce to vote. “A word from the management could be a useful push,” he added.
Speaking further, Kumar admitted that voter turnout in metro cities had always been a problem. “The challenge in a city is getting professionals to vote. Polling day is usually a holiday, and many professionals choose to spend this free time with family,” he explained.
However, the CEO said that he was excited about voter turnout for one other reason – that the State has over 6 lakh first-time voters now. “I am enthusiastic about the large number of first-time voters who have enrolled till now. If they have put in the effort to get enrolled, it means they are likely to vote as well. And a large number of them are from the city,” he said.
Political connect
It is ‘political connect’ that makes all the difference, said Kumar as he underscored how turnouts in rural areas are many a time more than 75 per cent. “In rural areas, politicians cultivate a connection with voters which compels them to step out of the house and vote. Such a connect is missing in cities,” he said.
GHMC’s outreach programme
Rajat Kumar said that the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation would launch a massive programme in the coming days to appeal to voters in the city to come out and vote