HYDERABAD: The emotionally charged, no-holds-barred campaign of the past week was not good enough to bring laid-back Hyderabadis to polling booths and vote in the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) elections on Tuesday.
Barely 36.73% of city’s 74.6 lakh voters exercised their franchise till 5 pm. Late in the evening, the State Election Commission (SEC) said that polling percentage was 45.71% but the actual numbers would be declared only on Wednesday.
These numbers kept up with the recent tradition of polling percentages not even crossing the halfway mark. The current numbers are marginally above the 45.29% polled in 2016, leaving strategists of all political parties worried over who would gain from the low numbers and who would lose out.
All results will be declared on Friday.
The high-octane campaign, which included roadshows by Union home minister Amit Shah and Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath for the BJP, had turned the election into must-win fight for ruling TRS.
But none of the political parties went out of their way to bring electors to polling booths.
Political analysts say BJP was hoping for a higher turnout, with many of the youth backing it. Although the top leadership was disappointed with the polling percentage, it is still confident of denting TRS substantially when results are declared.
All the same, BJP state president Bandi Sanjay blamed the ruling TRS for bringing down the polling percentage by creating fear among the people through its statements. He demanded action against the SEC stating it did not even know symbols of political parties.
Congress, on the other hand, blamed BJP, TRS and AIMIM for communalising the election atmosphere, resulting in fewer people coming out to vote.
Forum for Good Governance secretary Padmanabha Reddy said if the people were angry with the TRS government, as the BJP states, why did they not come out to vote for other parties?
Barring stray incidents of skirmishes between BJP and TRS members in some areas, and between AIMIM and BJP activists in other divisions, polling was largely peaceful in the city.