Low turnout in Hyderabad district perplexes poll officials
HYDERABAD: Election authorities in the district are perplexed by the low turnout in the Hyderabad and Secunderabad Lok Sabha constituencies, which recorded the lowest polling percentage in the state. Officials said that despite extensive awareness campaigns in the twin cities, Hyderabad recorded a turnout of 48.48% while Secunderabad did marginally better at 49.04%.
Among the 119 Assembly constituencies covering 17 Lok Sabha seats in Telangana, Malakpet recorded the lowest turnout at 42.76%, followed by Yakutpura with 43.34% and Charminar at 48.53%. None of the Assembly constituencies in the district crossed the 55% mark. The only two Assembly constituencies to surpass 50% were Secunderabad, Amberpet and Secunderabad Cantonment, which falls in the Malkajgiri Lok Sabha constituency.
Apart from Hyderabad and Secunderabad, the surrounding Greater Hyderabad area includes two other Lok Sabha constituencies: Malkajgiri and Chevella. Malkajgiri includes Kukatpally, Quthbullapur, Uppal, LB Nagar and Secunderabad Cantonment, while Chevella includes Serilingampally and Rajendranagar. These constituencies also saw low turnout, with Malkajgiri at approximately 50.12% and Chevella at 55.45%.
No impact of SVEEP?
Despite extensive awareness efforts under the Systematic Voters’ Education and Electoral Participation (SVEEP) programme, voters showed little interest in going to the polling booths, even though it was a general holiday, officials said.
