Noida goes to vote today, high turnout expected

According to HT-C Fore survey, 74% voters may come out to vote.

Amid tight security arrangements, about 31 lakh voters will exercise their franchise in eight assembly constituencies in Gautam Budh Nagar and Ghaziabad districts on Tuesday.

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Noida will make its debut as a separate seat in Gautam Budh Nagar. The other two seats in the district are Dadri, comprising Noida Extension and chief minister Mayawati’s native village Badalpur, and Jewar where the strife-stricken Bhatta-Parsaul areas is located.

In Noida, infrastructure development is the main issue with residents seeking and parties promising public representation on the Noida authority board. In the other two constituencies, land acquisition is the one of the important issue.

Noida has become an assembly seat for the first time. But an HT-C fore survey reveals that people are already politically conscious and as many as 74% may go out to vote.

Fifty-eight per respondents said they would vote. Another 16% say, they would try their best. Twenty-six per cent people surveyed said they would not vote. But in what is not a healthy sign for democracy, 58% people say they are not familiar with their respective MLA’s name.

Forty-seven people either find the state government's performance either poor or very poor, while 33% say the showing is average.

Gautam Budh Nagar district tops the chart in the state in terms of per capita income and contribution to the state exchequer. In literacy, the district is number two.

Since Noida is a separate seat and an urban one at that, candidates and RWAs are, for the first time, talking of urban issues.