HCU polls smooth, peaceful

HYDERABAD: Tuesday was the D-day at the University of Hyderabad.Gentle handshakes, smiles and winks were enough to convey the message as the varsity went to the students’ union polls.Keeping in line with the campaigning, the polls too went off smoothly and peacefully with over 3,000 of the 4,700 students exercising their right to vote.Some students’ organisations claimed this was the highest-ever voter turnout in the university’s history. Last year, about 62.9% took part in voting and this time, the poll percentage is said to be 68.8%.The polling for six general posts, school boards, councilors and the gender sensitization committee against sexual harassment representative, began fairly early this morning. After weeks of campaigning, students seemed sure of whom to vote. Eight polling booths were set up to ensure convenient polling for the 10 schools and few Centres across the campus. The varsity declared a holiday to facilitate the polls. Cadres of the students’ organisations like the ABVP brought students on bikes and accompanied them up to the booths giving an indication of the seriousness with which the election has been fought. A sizeable number of students, however, stayed away from the polls. “Most of my classmates do not cast their votes even though they might be standing right outside the booth,” said Suresh, a second-year MA student. It was also observed last year that a large number of votes went invalid. “Around 150 votes on an average for all the posts were considered void, for the university crowd it is quite a large number,” lamented Sreejith, another MA student