PANAJI: Devoid of the usual long queues of voters eager to cast their franchise, the polling booths for the zilla panchayat polls on Saturday were lacking in the enthusiasm typical of elections. In most parts of the state, the voting was sporadic. The only crowds visible were those around the tables of polling agents, where even social distancing norms appeared to take a hit.
Though the ZP polls did see senior citizens step out to vote, many voters aged 60 and above decided to give the polls a miss for the fear of contracting Covid-19 infection.
Residents of Alto-Porvorim, senior citizens Krishnakumar Pathak and wife Sushila were relieved that they could walk into an empty polling booth on Saturday afternoon, avoiding contact with other voters. “There is surely the worry about infection. But we stepped out to cast our vote nevertheless. Fortunately, it went well,” said Pathak.
A senior citizen from Santa Cruz, who decided to avoid voting due to comorbidities, said she did not understand the rush to conduct the polls when the arrival of a vaccine was on the horizon and elections could have been delayed till the vaccine arrived in three to four months’ time. “The ZP elects do not have any great powers anyway that the polls should have been held in such a hurry,” said the senior citizen.
On this polling day, even the usual picnic spots like Siridao, where voters are known to enjoy their public holiday after casting their votes, bore a lonely look, owing to the pandemic. “ZP polls had to be conducted as they were already delayed by so many months. All precautions were taken at our polling booth like ensuring social distancing and making sure that masks are worn by all involved,” said Socorro resident Neeta Tari.
In many areas, voters were seen having to be convinced by party workers to leave homes to exercise their franchise. This lead to voting percentages in many areas like in parts of Canacona going up in the last couple of hours of voting.
In the three ZP constituencies of Keri, Honda and Nagargao in Sattari too, the voting was initially seen to be slow, but picked in the final hours of polling.
“For the first time, there is low turnout of voters in Sattari. People didn’t move out of their houses in large numbers due to the Covid pandemic. Usually for every election, people from Saleli and Honda under Poriem assembly constituency come out in large number to exercise their franchise,” said BJP’s Vishwajit Krishnarao Rane, from Saleli, Sattari.
(With inputs from Albert Fernandes & Afaq Khan)