On a cool May Monday morning, citizens of Hyderabad turned up in large numbers to vote right from the word go on May 13, 2024. Brisk polling is being recorded across the four Lok Sabha constituencies of the city as people queued up to exercise their franchise. Starting at 7 a.m. without a glitch, most voters came away smiling. By the time K. Nirmala reached the polling station in Hyderguda, in the Chevella constituency at 8 a.m., 118 votes had been cast. By the time another voter reached the polling station at Neredmet St Andrew’s School, 25 votes had been cast by 7.15 a.m. “The street was full of vehicles with people waiting to get inside to go and vote,” said the resident of Sainikpuri.
“They are not asking women to show the faces. The voting experience is like any other time. This is no different,” said Qudisia Begum, a school teacher who exercised her franchise at the Kumarwadi Government Primary School inside the Golconda Fort. The polling station is in the Karwan Assembly segment of Hyderabad Lok Sabha Constituency.
No phones
At all the constituencies, police staff at the entrance were enforcing the no-cellphone rule, stringently shooing away voters walking in with cellphones. Some of the polling agents doubled up to help voters keep their phones safe while they exercised their franchise.
