Gautam Buddh Nagar: 1.95 lakh more votes cast in 2019 polls than 2014

The Gautam Buddh Nagar constituency in Uttar Pradesh recorded a voter turnout of 60.47 per cent in the April 11 Lok Sabha polls, with 13.89 lakh people exercising their franchise, slightly higher than the 2014 general election.

Over 1.95 lakh more voters exercised their franchise this time, according to revised official data issued Sunday.

After the polling on April 11, the district election office had put the voting percentage at 62.7 per cent but has now come out with absolute numbers.

A total of 13.89 lakh votes were cast in the just-held election across the five assembly segments of Noida, Jewar, Dadri, Khurja and Sikandrabad from an electorate of 22.97 lakh, the data shared by district election office stated.

An assembly segment-wise break-up of the data showed 3.49 lakh votes were cast in Noida, 3.26 lakh in Dadri, 2.16 lakh in Jewar. The two assembly segments of Sikandrabad and Khurja, that fall in Bulandshahr district but are part of this constituency, had a turnout of 2.52 lakh and 2.44 lakh, respectively, it stated.

In absolute numbers, Noida segment registered around 71,000 more voters than 2014, Dadri 78,000, Jewar 19,000, Sikandarabad 15,000 and Khurja 12,000, the data stated.

Among the voters, 7.73 lakh were male, 6.15 lakh were female, and only four from the third gender category, it showed.

Gautam Buddh Nagar had witnessed a turnout of 60.38 per cent in 2014 and an abysmal 48 per cent in the 2009 Lok Sabha polls, according to Election Commission statistics. The turnout was lower than the national average of 66 per cent in 2014 and 58 per cent in 2009.

"Good election management, improved law and order situation and a massive voter awareness programme (SVEEP) are the main reasons for the improved voter turnout this time," District Magistrate Brajesh Narain Singh said.

Rajeev Tyagi, the nodal officer for Systematic Voters' Education and Electoral Participation programme (SVEEP), attributed the increased turnout to the large scale voter awareness campaigns held across the district.

A senior official involved in the election process said the turnout of 62.7 per cent as given on April 11 was based on initial estimates only.

"Later, a detailed sector-wise turnout showed the final figures. During election day, poll officials have to update voter turnout after every few hours and at times they put out an estimate a few minutes prior to the closing of polls. Hence, these changes occur," the official told PTI on the condition of anonymity.

Poll observers said the voter turnout increased despite the hot weather on polling day and no leave for local voters who work in Delhi and Gurgaon.

In 2014, Noida assembly segment registered 2.78 lakh votes, Dadri 2.48 lakh, Jewar, 1.97 lakh, Sikandrabad 2.37 lakh and Khurja 2.32 lakh, altogether 11.94 lakh of 19.86 lakh voters had cast their votes that year, the official data showed.

In 2009, 7.38 lakh of the 15.22 lakh voters had cast their votes, around 48 per cent, it added.

BJP's Mahesh Sharma was seeking a re-election this time with Congress' Arvind Kumar Singh and BSP's Satveer Nagar, among 10 other candidates, put up a fight in the Lok Sabha election here.

Voting was held in Gautam Buddh Nagar on April 11 during the first leg of the seven-phased elections, whose results will be out on May 23.