The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : Drop in voter turnout in Karimnagar worries TRS

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Friday, May 30, 2008
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

Drop in voter turnout in Karimnagar worries TRS

K.M. Dayashankar

Doubts being raised if KCR can repeat feat of December 2006

Queue please: Voters at a polling booth in Challur village of Kamalapur Assembly segment in Karimnagar district on Thursday.

KARIMNAGAR: A sharp five per cent fall in polling, compared to the previous byelections in the Karimnagar Parliament constituency, has become a cause of concern for the all main contestants, especially the TRS candidate K. Chandrashekhar Rao.

The drop from 57% in the December 2006 byelection that ensured Mr. Rao’s victory with a thumping majority of over two lakh votes to about 52% now, has raised doubts if he can repeat the feat. Mr. Rao already seems to have feared problems when he said the majority was not as much an issue as his victory.

Going by the available trends, it appeared to be a straight contest between the TRS and Congress, both in the Parliament constituency as well as the three Assembly segments of Mydaram, Huzurabad and Kamalapur. Polling was moderate in these three segments too.

Hanuman Deeksha

A variety of reasons are being cited for this dull to moderate polling. These include powerloom weavers’ strike demanding waiver of 4 per cent sales tax on yarn in Sircilla segment, several youth turning to Hanuman Deeksha, jumbling in the voters list and of course the scorching summer. In addition, voter weariness was visible, as they were being asked to vote for the third time in the last four years.

The turnout was moderate in rural areas, but came down drastically in the urban areas, including Karimnagar town. Thousands of saffron-clad youth, who were on the Hanuman Deeksha mala, preferred to stay away from voting as they were busy preparing for the Hanuman Jayanthi celebrations falling on May 30, at Kondagattu, Agraharam and other popular shrines. As was evident in a majority of polling stations, the presence of youth was restricted.

Several voters faced some embarrassing moments after reaching the polling stations when the polling staff told them that their names were not in the list in the urban areas.

There were others who had to return home disappointed as they had no clue about the location of their polling booths.

KCR’s visits

Mr. Chandrashekhar Rao visited some of the polling stations in Karimnagar, Sircilla and Nerella Assembly segments and left for Medak district to cast his vote in Siddipet Assembly segment.

Congress nominee and Jagtial legislator T Jeevan Reddy cast his vote in Jagtial town and toured the entire Parliament constituency, inspected the polling pattern and inquired with the local leaders about the prevailing trends.

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