Bypoll: Covid casts shadow on polling day, turnout mere 43.75%

Fewer people came out to vote in key by-election despite wide voter awareness campaign run by the election officers; 24 Covid patients cast votes in PPE gears

- IFRAH MUFTI

UNLIKE the 2020 Assembly election when the Rajinder Nagar constituency witnessed a voter turnout of 58.27%, the voting for the bypoll held on Thursday recorded a poor turnout of only 43.75%. The polling took place in the shadow of the Covid pandemic.

The Chief Electoral Officer Ranbir Singh shared the provisional voting turnout at 6 pm when the polling ended stating that the voting percentage remained low despite all the campaigns and awareness programmes run to encourage the voters. The last one hour of the election time was kept only for the Covid patients. As many as 24 Covid patients voted during this period.