By noon on Sunday, reports that barely 22 per cent voters had turned up at polling booths sent jitters through the BJP’s poll supervisory team. Perturbed by the dismal voting percentage, senior leaders issued directions to the party cadre to coax voters out of their homes. In the message sent to all booth management teams and poll teams, organisational secretary Siddharthan said, “Mujhe gyat hua hai ki aap log kadi mehnat kar Bhajpa ke paksh mein matdaan karne mein jute hain. Bhojan avkaash ke baad bhi issi mehnat ke saath kaam karein, mehnat aur lagan se mila vote hi party ki jeet nishchit karega. (I got to know that all of you have been working hard to get more votes for the party. But I would request you to work even harder after lunch as this will ensure the party’s victory).” Earlier in the day, the party had sent similar messages to its ‘panch parmeshwars’. Post lunch, voting percentage rose to 34.97 per cent. Sources said even senior leaders were asked to make rounds of their constituencies and motivate cadre to ensure voters make it to the booths. “We ensured that our teams were on their feet. The cadre worked hard so that poll percentage would go up,” said BJP MP Ramesh Bidhuri.
