Kanpur: Voting remained slow and it could not gain momentum till evening. Despite that trend Cantt assembly area registered maximum percentage of votes. It was recorded 40.30 % till three in the afternoon. Later it increased up to 51.40 percent till 6 pm. Voters voted till seven in the evening. Akbarpur Lol Sabha seat recorded 56.40% voting till six pm.
Though there were reports of defective EVMs at several booths like 264,193,195,182,144,105,144 and others, one case of misbehaving with the Circle officer was also registered.
The voting was restricted for hours but it started after replacement of fresh electronic voting machines. There remained complaints of 28 faulty EVMs in Cantt area. The machines were replaced in booths no 248, 271& 232 while VVPTs were changed at five places in Cantt area. Even the Congress party candidate Sri Prakash Jaiswal made complaints to the District election officer.
The police remained strict during the polling time. They did neither allow attendants nor vehicle near the booths.
Several residents looked annoyed for their names have been erased from the list. The persons sitting with the voter's list appeared too lax in searching the name and serial number of the voters. Some agents were too smart to find out the name on the mobile set.
Talking to the first-time voters it became clear that they learnt how to cast their vote. One young girl told she was very nervous at the booth as it was her maiden chance. She stood in the queue and showed the slip to the officials. She signed and ink was put on her one hand finger. Afterwards she stepped on to push the button in the voting machine. The slip came out and dropped down into a box. She was satisfied as her vote was cast. Her fear evaporated and she felt like a happy individual.
Kanpur parliamentary seat was supposed to be on triangular fight. The result will be declared on May 23.
