Lok Sabha elections 2019: Laidback Lucknow fails to put up an impressive show

The state capital put up an average show in polling yet again with the voting percentage touching 54.29, just 1.35% more than the 2014 Lok Sabha elections when it was at a low of 52.94%.

In the run-up to the polls here, the district administration, social organisations and many schools had launched several voter awareness campaigns and so the officials had expected a higher voter turnout.

By 9 am on Monday, only 8.68% of the electorate in Lucknow had exercised their voting rights. However, by this time voting in Dhaurhara, Sitapur and Kaushambi had crossed the double figure mark.

While voters in other constituencies continued with the morning enthusiasm, those in Lucknow couldn’t do same because of the high temperature.

The day started with thousands of youths queueing up to vote in the morning. Many of these young voters had reached the polling centres even before 7 am. Notably, enthusiasm was in the air.

“I am excited to vote as this is my first time,” said Vedank Khanna at a polling centre in Kalyanpur. He had come with his parents to vote.

“Many voters that I know had made it a point to vote in the morning before they did any other work,” said Dr PK Gupta, who had offered people who voted a ‘free blood sugar test’ at his lab. He got first such respondent at 8 am, itself. At several polling booths, voters were seen making full use of selfie points by clicking pictures and sharing them on social media platforms, besides asking others to come out and vote. Many voters were seen coming with all their family members to the polling centres.

Polling percentage in the state capital slowly moved up to 20.98% by 11 am and by 1 pm it was 33.14%.

But in the next five hours only another 21.15% voters turned out to vote as the percentage reached 54.29 at the end of polling.

Polling percentage in most of the constituencies of the state that went to polls on Monday was higher than that of Lucknow.