Fighting all odds, nineteen-year-old conjoined twins Saba and Farah cast their vote for the first time on Wednesday but abouthalf of the urban voters in the city refrained from exercising their franchise.
However, only one of the twins, Farah, was allowed to exercise her choice, according to Election Commission norms.
The only saving grace was a plethora of political A-listers, which came out to vote.
The voters' turnout in Patna was recorded at 51.82 per cent, lowest among the six districts, which went to polls on Wednesday showcasing the apathy of the urban voters towards the electoral exercise, which empowers them to choose a government.
Voting percentage in Bankipore, Kumhrar and Digha Assembly constituencies, which are more or less urban constituencies, was the lowest among all 50 constituencies where polling was held. Senior officials in the district administration claimed that the lowest voters' turnout was observed in upscale residential colonies in areas such as Pataliputra, Boring Road and Kankerbagh.
The Election Commission, however, portrayed an encouraging picture of polling in the city. Chief electoral officer Ajay V. Naik claimed that the voting percentage in the three urban constituencies in Patna surged by an average of around 7-8 per cent compared to the same recorded in the Lok Sabha elections held last year.
"The voters' turnout in Kumhrar, Digha and Bankipore constituencies increased by around 9, 7 and 7 per cent, respectively, as compared to the same in the Lok Sabha elections," said Naik.
Governor Ram Nath Kovind and the First Lady of the state, Savita Kovind, cast their votes at booth number 305 at a government middle school near Raj Bhavan around 8.30am. Speaking to journalists after casting his vote, the governor made an appeal to the citizen to exercise their franchise.
The most influential political family of the state, Lalu Prasad, his wife and former chief minister Rabri Devi, son Tej Pratap and daughter Misa Bharti also cast their votes at a government school at Veterinary College ground around 9.30am. Tej's younger brother Tejaswi had arrived at the same polling centre around an hour earlier as he had to head to Raghopur, the constituency in Vaishali district from where he is contesting the elections.
Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, BJP MP and actor Shatrughan Sinha, former deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi, his wife Jessie Modi, former minister Nand Kishore Yadav and other high-profile voters also cast their votes on Tuesday.
After coming out of the polling centre and walking around 100m further, Lalu lambasted Prime Minister Narendra Modi while talking to mediapersons. "Modi should resign from the post of Prime Minister as he does not have knowledge of the Constitution of India. He has said he would cut a certain percentage of reservation given to backward castes and give it to Muslims. He is indulging in communal politics, which is unethical. The Grand Alliance will make a clean sweep in all three phases held till date," said Lalu.
Conjoined twins Saba and Farah went to polling centre number 89 at Samanpura around 11am to cast their vote. Though they had a joint voters' identity card with both of their names on it, only Farah was allowed to use the electronic voting machine (EVM).
"We have come here because we want a good government and development. Everyone should cast their votes," said Farah after coming out of the polling centre.
While the urban voter turnout came as a disappointment, neighbouring semi-urban Danapur, Phulwarisharif and Patna Sahib constituencies fared comparatively better. The turnout in the three constituencies was recorded at 53, 56 and 51.40 per cent, respectively.
Professor of economics at AN Sinha Institute of Social Studies, D.M. Diwakar, attributed a lack of good candidates fielded by different political parties as the reason behind the poor voters' turnout in urban constituencies.
