South Goa records 72.89% polling

NT NETWORK

Margao

Polling went off peaceful in South Goa seat, recording   a 72.89 per cent voter turnout for the Lok Sabha elections held on Tuesday in the state. The voting percentage of 2014 in South Goa was however slightly higher – 77 per cent.

There are six candidates, including Narendra Sawaikar of the BJP, Francisco Sardinha of the Congress and AAP candidate Elvis Gomes, in the fray.

The voting, which started at 7 am at a slow pace across Salcete taluka, picked up gradually as the day progressed.

The voting in Quepem and mining belt areas was moderate.

Nevertheless a large number of voters turned out at various polling booths in South Goa.

Around 12 per cent of voting was recorded in the

first two hours of voting:  maximum polling was in Churchorem, the constituency represented by Power Minister Nilesh Cabral.

Averagely 30 per cent of votes were polled by 11 am in the parliamentary seat, which has 20 assembly constituencies.

The voting was 15 per cent more at 1 pm and by 3 pm it was around 55 per cent.

The final voting percentage was 72.89 per cent.

The gradual rise in voting percentage puzzled many a poll analysts.

People from the Quepem constituency came out in large numbers to cast their votes with 76 per cent voting.

The election passed off peacefully barring a few incidents of malfunctioning of EVM and VVPAT machines in this assembly segment.

Villages of Ambaulim and Khola in particular witnessed the highest polling throughout the day with a large number of voters participating in the election process.

Coastal Salcete saw slow response to the Lok Sabha polls, even as women outperformed men in coming out of their houses to vote. Voting was largely peaceful, although malfunctioning EVM and VVPAT machines exasperated voters and polling officials.

All through the morning, the flow of people was rather slow and picked up gradually nearing lunch time. The constituency of Benaulim on the whole however maintained a lot overall voting percentage.

Polling booths in Seraulim, Orlim and Betalbatim saw many women turning up to wait in line to cast their votes. Though men were also present, women outnumbered them in polling booths of Benaulim, Colva, Cavelossim and Varca.

Voting in Mormugao taluka was held in a very peaceful manner without any untoward incidents. The taluka recorded 66.44 percent of voting.

The Sanvordem constituency recorded 77 per cent polling, which is higher than the votes polled in the Curchorem and Sanguem constituencies.

The mining belt saw peaceful voting.

Canacona recorded 74 per cent voting. With 33642 eligible voters in Canacona, the voting was 49 per cent till lunchtime

The final voter turnout was 74 per cent that was registered at 6 pm when the polling ended.