Hamirpur: Poll boycott, rains keep turnout at 48%

HAMIRPUR: Incessant rain proved to be a double whammy for flood-hit Hamirpur-Sadar on polling day with several booths recording a near-blank till noon, before the turnout spiralled to 48.10% by 6pm after electoral officials mobilized voters to queue up. District information officer said, the 48% turnout was 15.59 percentage points lower than 2017 elections."At least 4,01,497 lakh electorate exercised their franchise till 6 pm on Monday," he said. Residents of several marooned areas, who are living in camps, did not turn up at polling stations.
In flood-hit Merapur, which announced a poll boycott, only one vote was cast. In adjoining Bhilawan, only five voters turned up at booths, although officials toured flood-hit areas and cajoled residents to vote with promises of relief and rehabilitation. However, anger was palpable among villagers.
BJP has fielded Yuvraj Singh, BSP Naushad Ali, Congress Hardeep Nishad and Samajwadi Party Manoj Prajapati. CPI candidate is Jamal Alam Mansori. After polling came to end, Samajwadi Party alleged several violations of the model code by BJP. The bye-election was necessitated after the disqualification of BJP MLA Ashok Singh Chandel, who along with nine others, was convicted in a two-decade old murder case in May.
Residents of Merapur on banks of Yamuna remained unmoved by promises of flood relief on polling day and stayed away from booths to protest government apathy. "We made several pleas to authorities to construct a concrete embankment, but to no avail. My house is flooded," said a villager. Though Merapur has only 2,000 residents, but they had sent across a message to politicians.
"Till noon, only one vote was cast at booth no: 122 of Merapur, while at booth no: 123, only four voters turned out to vote. At booth no: 121, none turned up till 2pm," said an official.
Similarly, residents of Lahra, Kakrau, Gujaira and Kariyapur in Kurara block boycotted polls to press their demands for roads, 'anna' cattle, health and education. District Election official Abhishek Prakash, however, said the administration assured them about fulfilling their demands. "We interacted with the villagers and requested them to vote," he told reporters.
"Polling started at 7am and in the first two hours, 5.60% polling was recorded. It rose by 3 pm to 32.95% and touched 42% by 5 pm. The final tally till 6 pm stood at 48.10 per cent. Polling was peaceful and smooth across 436 polling booths," said deputy electoral officer Rajesh Kumar Chaurasia. However, complaints on glitches in 14 EVMs, and six control units and eight VVPATs poured in from booths.