Mahona, Gosaiganj nagar panchayats in Lucknow see second and third highest voter turnout

Saharanpur’s Behat nagar panchayat recorded highest turnout at 86.26%; eight of 10 nagar nagams fail to touch the 50% mark

LUCKNOW Two nagar panchayats (semi-urban local bodies) - Mahona and Gosaiganj - in Lucknow district have emerged as the second and the third highest, respectively, in terms of voter turnout in 37 districts where the first phase of civic polls recorded 52% voter turnout on Thursday, as per election data put up by the State Election Commission on its website.

SEC data shows that more than 85 of the 276 nagar panchayats, where voting was held in the first phase on Thursday, recorded voter turnout above 70%. (Pic for representation)

The average voting percentage of the 37 districts was found to be 5% lower as compared to 2017 civic polls.

In contrast, urban voters in Lucknow, as in most other municipal corporations, showed apathy towards voting. The district recorded 36.97% turnout, the third lowest after Prayagraj and Gorakpur nagar nigams.

But with voter percentage as high as 84%, the Mahona nagar panchayat in Lucknow was found to have recorded the second highest turnout after Saharanpur’s Behat nagar panchayat (highest turnout at 86.26%).

Gosaiganj - another nagar panchayat in Lucknow - registered the third highest turnout at 80.76%, followed by Hardoi’s Gopamau (80.65%) and Mainpuri’s Kisni (79.99%) nagar panchayat.

The SEC data shows that more than 85 of the 276 nagar panchayats, where voting was held in the first phase on Thursday, recorded voter turnout above 70%. In most other nagar panchayats too, the voting % was between 60-70%.

Even some nagar palika parishads (small towns) registered a high turnout, like Baruasagar in Jhansi (77.22%), Nukud in Saharanpur (75.83%) and Sarsawa in Saharanpur (78.83%).

Among the 10 nagar nigarms, on the other hand, barring Saharanpur and Firozabad, no other nagar nigam coud touch even the 50% mark in voter turnout. These two nagar nigams recorded the first and the second highest turnout at 54.94% and 51.7%, respectively.

“It’s shocking that voters in big cities have always been apathetic to polling in all elections despite them being more educated. The reasons need to be studied,” said a senior SEC official.