Voting began on a dull note at 7 a.m. in Hyderabad and ended at 5 p.m. on an equally dull note with the excitement of polling limited to first time voters. “I went to vote at 4 p.m. There was hardly anyone in queue. The number of people in the polling stations usually goes up in the evening. But this time that did not happen. I could go in, vote and step out in three minutes,” said Mohammed Safwan, a businessman, who voted near the Mallepally Masjid.
However, there was excitement at the polling station for some time as some voter’s slips had the kite symbol of All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen and political agents of other parties objected leading to arguments. The Polling Station comes under the Nampally Assembly Constituency which saw under 42.6% voting percentage.
A family which managed to reach Charminar around 12 noon after travelling from a city hotel in Nampally had to make do with selfies and photographs near Laad Bazaar as police restricted movement near Charminar. The usually crowded bangles market remained closed.
Near the Government Primary School Bazaar-e-Ghansi voters braved the sun and traffic as they waited on the roads to vote in the Charminar Assembly Constituency. As the markets remained closed, the streets wore a deserted look with only tea and snack vendors doing brisk business. Even upscale restaurants like Consu inside Green Park in Begumpet remained closed till 5 p.m. Some restaurants limited their service to tea and biscuits.
“It’s a natural thing to vote… it was worth my travel from Bangalore… I expected and was ready to stand in queue but disheartened to see empty booths,” said a first-time voter in Srinivasa Colony, who is pursuing a bachelor’s degree course in Bangalore.
The voting process remained smooth with a few random incidents of Electronic Voting Machines breaking down. “I stood in the queue at DD Colony polling station at 3 p.m. but after waiting for 15 minutes the EVM malfunctioned and I decided to walk away though the device was replaced just as I was leaving the place,” says G. Srinivas, a teacher, who has earlier exercised the franchise in the area.
There were dozens of electors in the queue at 4.15 p.m. at the Maharishi Vidya Niketan, Begumpet which is in the Sanathnagar Constituency. But by 5 p.m. all the voters could cast their vote and exit the polling booth. Malls, supermarkets and even jewellery stores in Begumpet areas that had remained shut through the day opened their doors at 5 p.m.
By 8.30 p.m., most of the EVMs were on their way to strong rooms guarded by gun toting paramilitary personnel under flood lights and observed by CCTVs.
