Urban voters get more booths in Gurugram condos

Gurugram: In an effort to hike the urban voting percentage in all four constituencies in the city, the Gurugram administration has set up 126 polling booths in high-rise apartments and condominiums. Nearly 1.5 lakh voters in the district will be able to cast their votes near their homes in these urban polling booths, officials said. In the Lok Sabha elections held in May this year, there were 52 such urban polling booths, but following requests by Resident Welfare Associations (RWAs) more urban booths have been set up for the assembly polls.
Badshahpur, a seat with the highest number of voters, will have 71 polling booths in condominiums, Gurgaon will have 42 booths, Pataudi will have nine while Sohna will have four such urban booths, data from the Election Commission of India (ECI) revealed.
Gurugram deputy commissioner Nishant Kumar Yadav on Friday said that 126 booths have been set up in high-rise apartments in the district to ensure that the maximum number of people in urban areas can cast their votes close to their homes and in a comfortable manner. “In societies where there are more than 600 voters, polling booths have been set up for them within the society. I appeal to all the citizens to come to the booth in large numbers on Saturday and exercise their right to vote and express their faith in the democratic system,” he said, adding that there will be a holiday in all schools, colleges and private companies on October 5.
Yadav said that the purpose of setting up urban polling booths was to ensure that the maximum number of people living in condominiums and apartments come out and vote. “Earlier it has been seen that people living in urban areas and condominiums were reluctant to vote in nearby villages or if polling stations were set up at a distance. During the Lok Sabha polls, the urban areas witnessed a high turnout after polling booths were set up in high-rise apartments,” he said.
The Gurugram district has 1,507 polling booths for 15,04,959 voters in the four assembly constituencies of Gurgaon, Badshahpur, Sohna and Pataudi, according to Election Commission of India data.
City residents and RWAs, meanwhile, welcomed the setting up of polling stations in condominiums since this would make voting easier for the people, they said.
Pravin Malik, president, Sare Homes RWA in Sector 92 said that the decision of setting up polling stations inside condominiums will improve the voter turnout. “During the Lok Sabha polls also, the voter turnout increased as people did not have to travel long distances or go to villages to vote. We expect that a large number of people will come out to vote as the number of these booths has increased. People must use this facility and cast their votes,” he said.