Representational image of an election official inking the finger of a voter
| Photo Credit: Nagara Gopal
The push of urbanisation in Telangana, especially the western part of Hyderabad, continues apace with Assembly constituencies in the peripheral areas showing a huge spike in the number of voters, the Election Commission of India data shows.
Data compared between 2018 and 2023 shows Patancheru has seen a spike of 35% in the number of voters, while Serilingampally has retained its position as the biggest Assembly constituency by numbers. Serilingampally in the western part of Hyderabad, which has seen an IT industry and housing boom, now has 6,98,079 voters up from 5,75,542, an increase of 21.2%. This is in sharp contrast to an average of 13.15% increase in the number of voters between 2018 and 2023 in the State.
In contrast, the inner constituencies of Hyderabad have shown only a marginal increase in voter numbers. Nampally, Malakpet, Musheerabad, Chandrayangutta, Yakutpura and Sanathnagar have a single digit percentage growth in voter numbers. Aswaraopet, Bhadrachalam, Wyra, Madhira and Ghanpur Station, which are reserved constituencies, have also logged single-digit growth in percentage terms. Dubbak in Medak had the lowest increase in voter numbers at 2%.
The rise in urban voters is not limited to the western parts of Hyderabad. Nakrekal (SC) 28%, Asifabad (ST) 20%, Kamareddy 19%, Karimnagar 19% and Nizamabad (Urban) 18% have also seen a large increase in the number of voters. The old urban centres in Telangana like Khammam (15%), Warangal West (15%) and Warangal East (16%) have also shown a rise in number of voters.
Urban electors present a unique challenge to political parties due to well-known ‘voter apathy’. Considering the voting day is November 30, a Thursday, it can easily be turned into a long weekend by staff in private companies who have Saturday and Sunday off.
