Hyderabad: Today is that day, again, Hyderabad — when you have a choice to make us feel proud as a conscientious city, or to shame us for classic urban voter apathy. We implore you — please, please, please vote.
We have enough reason to feel bad about ourselves — our voting track record. We stand up to queue for IPL tickets, for movies, even inauguration of showrooms, malls, discount offers and celebrity sightings. Let us for once queue up to get our fingers inked, and our hearts swell with pride — let us vote.
The urban expanse of our great city comprises four Lok Sabha segments of Telangana state, covering areas of the core city and its outskirts — Hyderabad, Secunderabad, Chevella and Malkajgiri. But the voting percentage in the 2014 elections was a mere 54.48 per cent. Worse, it fell down further for the 2019 polls for all of us in Hyderabad – and became an all-time low of 48.5 per cent.
The reasoning was the decoupling of the Assembly and Lok Sabha elections, with election experts arguing that city voters tend to vote in higher numbers in the state polls than the Lok Sabha elections, but that argument too fails for us city dwellers. The average poll percentage in the 24 Assembly segments falling within GHMC limits for the 2023 Assembly polls was a shocking 48.7 per cent.
Of these, the Yakutpura segment recorded the least urban pocket voting with 27.87 per cent, whereas, our fellow citizens of Patancheru recorded the highest of 69.72 per cent. Thanks for showing us the way and setting an example, folks from Patancheru.
Serilingampally, a part of the Chevella Lok Sabha constituency, which has the highest number of software professionals, who often showcase their presence strongly on social media about the need for voting and other citizen duties, recorded a somewhat pathetic 48.6 per cent. Someone must tell them — it is voting day folks, not a long weekend.
So let today be a black swan day, an outlier. We hope you will vote. In big numbers and make our city proud.
HOW THE CITY VOTED
2023 Assembly polls
Top three:
Patancheru 69.72%
Maheshwaram 53.14%
Quthbullapur 52.80%
Bottom three
Yakutpura 27.87%
Nampally 32.4%
Chandrayangutta 39%
2019 Lok Sabha polls
Secunderabad 45%
Hyderabad 45%
Malkajgiri 49%
Chevella 53%
2014 elections
In 2014, the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections were held in undivided AP even as the Telangana state was formed.
Polling crossed 50% in Hyderabad and Secunderabad and touched 60% in Chevella.
