Better voter response in central parts, suburbs lag behind
Many voters stepped out during the first half of the day to cast their vote, anticipating scorching heat in the afternoon and rain in the evening
Monday, May 13, 2024 saw good response from voters, especially in the central parts of the city with long voter queues seen at polling booths since the morning in various Peth areas, Karve Road, Parvati, Sahakarnagar and Shivajinagar.
Many voters stepped out during the first half of the day to cast their vote, anticipating scorching heat in the afternoon and rain in the evening. In slums like Janata Vasahat however, long queues were seen even after 6 pm when polling ended officially.
By 5 pm, the Kasba Peth assembly segment had registered 51.07% voter turnout while the Kothrud and Parvati assembly constituencies had recorded 48.91% and 46.8% voter turnout, respectively. Suburbs like Vadgaon Sheri had recorded 40.5% voter turnout by 5 pm whereas parts of Baner and Aundh, which come under the Shivajinagar assembly segment, saw fewer voters.
From the time the voting started at 7 am, there was a rush of citizens arriving at the polling booths for voting with youngsters, first-time voters and senior citizens among them. The volunteers of political parties even arranged help for senior citizens to come to the polling booths.
At several places across Pune city, members of political parties encouraged voters to cast their vote during the first half of the day considering the unseasonal showers in Pune over the last few days.
“I had come to cast my vote in the morning and there were Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) volunteers outside the polling booth to search for my name in the voters’ list. Since the last couple of days, an awareness drive is being conducted in our area by all party workers to step out and cast votes,” said Pankaj Joshi, a senior citizen from the Sadashiv Peth area.
Another citizen Varsha Godbole said, “There was a lot of enthusiasm among Punekars coming out to vote and in all of this, BJP ex-corporators and volunteers were seen across polling booths in Pune city. They were helping people to search their names, giving out voting slips and at times, even bringing senior citizens from their homes to the polling booths.”
Rajesh Pande, state vice-president, BJP, said, “Overall, there was good response to the voting that took place in Pune and our teams of corporators, MLAs and party volunteers worked tirelessly to increase the turnout percentage. From the middle class to the rich and poor, everyone came out in large numbers and the Modi wave could be seen today during the voting.”
