LS Polls: 60.15% voter turnout recorded in Gautam Buddh Nagar
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LS Polls: 60.15% voter turnout recorded in Gautam Buddh Nagar

In the 2014 Lok Sabha polls also, Gautam Buddh Nagar had witnessed a similar turnout at 60 per cent.

LS Polls: 60.15% voter turnout recorded in Gautam Buddh Nagar

An overall 60.15% voter turnout was recorded in Gautam Buddh Nagar on Thursday during the first phase of Lok Sabha polls.

Gautam Buddh Nagar parliamentary constituency comprises of five assembly segments including Noida, Dadri, Jewar, Sikandrabad and Khurja. With today’s polling, the fate of 13 candidates from various political parties and independent contestants has been locked.

In the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, Gautam Buddh Nagar had witnessed a turnout of 60 per cent, which was an improvement on the 2009 figure of 48 per cent, according to the statistics shared by the Election Commission.

Brisk voting was recorded during the initial three hours but it went down during the afternoon. However, it again gained momentum during the last phase with large number of people queuing up at polling booths.

Incidentally, the turnouts in Noida and Greater Noida were lower than the national average of 66 per cent in 2014 and 2009 (58%).

 

Residents of several societies were seen helping voters outside polling booths.

 

To ensure fair elections, Gautam Buddh Nagar district administration seemed fully prepared.

This time, the election officials in Noida had left no stone unturned to ensure that people come out in huge numbers to exercise their voting rights. Voter awareness drives like Nukkad Natak, Raahgiri and so on were held throughout the city for over a month.

Rajeev Tyagi, nodal official for Systematic Voters’ Education and Electoral Participation (SVEEP), said that around 1,500 awareness programmes were organised both in rural as well as urban areas of Gautam Buddh Nagar. “With all these programmes, we tried to reach out to almost every village and sector in the city to encourage people to vote,” Tyagi said.

And the results were clearly visible. The residents of Noida and Greater Noida – especially those living in high-rises – turned out to participate in the elections despite hot weather conditions.

At many polling booths, residents were seen distributing water bottles to those standing in long queues waiting for their turn to vote.

Vikash Kumar, a resident of Panchseel Greens in Greater Noida West, said, “I along with some other residents from different societies reached at my polling booth one hour before the voting started. It is the biggest festival of our democracy and we must contribute our bit to make it the best.”

 

Residents of Green Arch society in Greater Noida West celebrating after voting.

 

Even those residents who had recently shifted to their new homes in several high rises of Noida and Greater Noida, and were casting their vote for the first time from here, didn’t score low on enthusiasm. Many assembled in groups within society and even took the customary selfies before leaving for polling booths.

Arrangements were made within the societies to provide election slips so that residents could easily locate their ward number and their names in the voter list. Preet Bhargava, a resident of Gaur City, said, “To ensure that each resident of Gaur City comes out to vote, we had deployed tower wise volunteers to help people. The residents were given their election slips before leaving for the polling booth. There were many who had not received their voting cards but their names were mentioned in the voter list, we had asked them to carry any identity proof so as to exercise their voting right.”

 

Residents of Gaur City in Greater Noida West were seen helping voters verify
their names in voter-list and providing them election slips at the society gate.