Chandigarh: Votes from villages, colonies key to the face of the new civic body

This time the number of wards had increased from 26 to 35, with 13 additional villages also being included under the ambit of the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation. A quick look at Friday’s voting trend showed that barring a few, almost a majority of the new wards have colonies and villages in them that witnessed some of the highest votings during the day’s polling.

Those with high voter turnouts

There were several wards on Friday that recorded over 70 per cent polling. Under the civic body, Ward 1 — which comprises villages and colonies in the areas of Kaimbwala, Khuda Ali Sher, Khuda Lahora colony, and Khuda Jassu — had a total of 13,210 registered voters and saw a voter turnout of 71.95 per cent, which is among the highest among all wards in Chandigarh.

Similarly, Ward 4, which has areas of Manimajra, Kishangarh, Indira colony, IT park, and Shastri Nagar, and has a total of 18,138 registered voters, saw an impressive turnout of 71.71 percent.

Likewise, Ward 7 also , which comprises areas of Mauli Jagran’s Ambedkar Nagar, Vikas Nagar, and Charan Singh Colony, saw 71.46 per cent of its total 28,203 registered voters casting their franchise on Friday.

Ward 15 and 16, too, saw a healthy voter turnout, which was recorded at 71.48 per cent and 72.81 per cent respectively. While ward 15 comprises Sarangpur and the rehabilitation colony of Dhanas with 28,569 voters, Ward 16 is made up of Sector 25 and Bhaskar Colony and has a total of 13,847 voters.

As per details, Ward 19, Ward 26, and Ward 28 too saw impressive voter turnouts of 72.09 per cent, 72.28 percent, and 72.42 percent, respectively.

While Ward 19 comprises areas of Industrial Area Phase II and the highly populated area of Ram Darbar with about 22,440 voters, Ward 26 covers Dadumajra colony, Dadumajra village, and Shahpur Colony and accounts for 21,486 voters. Ward 28 comprises Maloya village, Maloya, Sector 39 West, and has a total of 28,180 registered voters.

Urban areas record low voter turnout, as usual

Continuing with the trend, the urban and posh areas of Chandigarh recorded low voter turnouts, just like the last polls in 2016. There were as many as eleven wards that saw voter turnouts between just 42 and 50 per cent. Ward 2, which accounts for one of the poshest belts of Chandigarh and comprises residential belts of Sectors 1 to 10, saw a voter turnout of just 50.8 per cent. The ward has a total of 11,564 registered voters — 6138 males and 5426 females. The worst and lowest turnout, however, was witnessed in Ward 23 where a ruckus regarding the distribution of fake voter IDs had taken place on Thursday. Ward 23, comprising the urban belts of Sector 34,35, and 43, witnessed just 42.66 per cent of its total registered 14,515 voters coming out to vote. The urban sectors of 18,19 and 21, which form Ward 11, also recorded a low turnout with 49.83 per cent of its 15,826 voters voting. Likewise, the urban belt of sectors 15, 16,17, and 24 — that make Ward 12 — also saw just a turnout of 50.18 percent of its total 15,299 voters. Ward 13, which is made up of the urban areas of sectors 11,12,14, which is Panjab University area, recorded 50.68 per cent voting by its 8945 total registered voters. The areas of Sector 22 and 23, which form another urban belt of Ward 17, saw just 50.38 per cent voting despite having a total of 17,691 registered voters. Similarly, Ward 18 — comprising sectors 20 and 30 — that had a total of 19,280 voters, saw a turnout of just 48.8 per cent. Ward 27, which comprises sectors 38 west, 39, and 40 that has 23,735 voters saw an abysmal turnout of 49.69 per cent. Likewise, Ward 32 saw a turnout of 45.57 per cent from among its 15,744 voters.

Two Covid patients vote

A total of 97 people, who at present are down with Covid, were contacted by the administration to facilitate them to cast their vote for the municipal elections. However, only two turned up to vote, both at Sector 21.