LS poll: disabled-friendly booths, selfie stations welcome voters in G.B. Nagar

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Rajeev Jain, who brought his daughter, Shivangi, to a polling booth in a wheelchair, said the arrangements were better this time than in the previous elections. | Photo Credit: SUSHIL KUMAR VERMA

Gautam Buddha Nagar on Friday saw many residents take leave from their offices to turn up at the polling booths.

By 5 p.m., the Lok Sabha constituency had recorded a turnout of 51.66%.

A total of 929 polling booths and stations were set up in Noida. Most saw long queues between 9 a.m. and 11 a.m., with a lull towards lunchtime. Voters started queuing up outside the booths again after 3 p.m.

There is a three-way contest for this Lok Sabha seat between Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) two-time MP, Dr. Mahesh Sharma, Indian National Developmental, Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) bloc candidate Dr. Mahendra Nagar (Samajwadi Party), and Bahujan Samaj Party's (BSP) Rajendra Singh Solanki.

Dr. Sharma banked on development projects, such as the upcoming Jewar airport and Film City, while the Opposition nominees tried to voice the dissonance among various caste groups and farmers' demand for better compensation for land acquired for various infrastructure projects.

Outside Manthan School in Noida's Sector 78, which served as a polling station for residents of nearby high-rise colonies, people armed with their voter IDs and water bottles could be seen stopping by at a selfie point.

Shashwat Mairal and his wife, Krutika Mairal, both aged 30, who work in the IT sector, said they took time off from work to cast their ballot.

While Ms. Mairal's office in Noida had declared a holiday, Mr. Mairal said he had taken a half day off.

Mansi Sharma, 43, and her husband, Anurag Sharma, 48, who own a jewellery store in Connaught Place, came to the polling booth before heading to their store.

"We voted for the future of the country's economy," said Ms. Sharma.

At a polling station in Sector 50, Rohit Chauhan, 34, who hails from Meerut, said he had voted on "infrastructure issues", such as the plan to develop villages around the Jewar Airport.

However, he added, the "inequality between different income groups" was a major concern for him.

Birambati, 70, who had come to a polling station in Morna village in Noida's Sector 35 with a group of women, said she considered her village's development and water supply issues while pressing the EVM button.

Kajal Baisoya, another member of the group, said she had voted with better law and order and women's safety in mind.

Shivangi Jain, 30, who has cerebral palsy, was wheeled into the polling station at Morna village by her father, Rajeev Jain, and polling agents.

Mr. Jain said that compared to the state of polling booths in previous elections, better arrangements had been made this time.