Nationalism, good governance and decisive leadership weighed heavy on the minds of the urban voters in Gurugram as they turned out to exercise their franchise for the single-phase Lok Sabha election for 10 constituencies in Haryana on Sunday.

Saying that it is her duty to vote, 89-year-old Malini Malviya, was satisfied with the way the country was run in the past five years. “Nobody has the magic wand to fix everything overnight. But I think the country is in safe hands,” said Ms. Malviya.

Echoing similar views, Hitesh Dhawan, a businessman, and his wife, Deepika, said the past five years may not be the best in terms of governance but the country had seen worse.

“Too much has been said. Lot of mud-slinging has been done. But I was happy with the things that were done. To be fair to the present leadership five years is not enough time. They deserve another term,” said Mr. Dhawan.

His wife, however, was unhappy with the efforts of the Election Commission of India to spread the word about the newly introduced VVPAT machines.

At Lancers International School polling station in DLF Phase-V, the voters, mostly belonging to the upper-middle class, said they were proud of the present leadership. Some of them said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi deserved another chance but he should deliver on his promises this time around. “Mr. Modi has failed to deliver on the promises made in 2014 but he alone is capable to lead the country as of today. He will get another opportunity but need to deliver promises this time,” said Deepak Kaistha. Similarly, in Sector 15 Part-I, Rakesh Yadav (65), a retired New India General Insurance employee, voted for “good governance”, and Vikas Adhikari for “decisive leadership”. For a software engineer, Manoj Chillar, a resident of Sector 15 Part-II, nationalism was paramount.

Comparison

Not willing to be named, a voter at Sector 15 Part-I said he was happy with the way the Delhi government had worked to improve the condition of government schools and hospitals and cast his vote against the atmosphere of religious and social disharmony created over the past five years.