PUNE: The Pune district administration has declared the official figure of Pune voters’ turnout for Tuesday’s Lok Sabha elections at 49.84 per cent. This is less than the last Lok Sabha polls’ figure.
The last time such a low turnout was recorded in 2004 Lok Sabha polls when the figure was 47.81 per cent.
What was the reason for such a dismal show by Puneites? Experts feel that it is the typical tendency of the middle-class in urban areas to stay away from polling. Despite various offers by several restaurants, shops, multiplexes, medical shops and others, Puneites prefer sitting at home rather than going out to cast their votes. Confusion over which party is better might also have compelled them to stay away from elections. According to Pune Collector Naval Kishore Ram, “Turnout was low and that is something which should be looked into.”
MIDDLE-CLASS MENTALITY?
A homemaker Rohini Shinde from Balewadi said, “To be very frank I was very much confused about whom to vote for. Every party was seen indulging in mud-slinging and it was difficult to figure out which one was true or genuine. So I did not vote.”
Prakash Pawar, Head of Political Science Department of Fergusson College said, “I don’t think it is disturbing. Pune is basically complete urbanise populated area. When we compared turnout as compared to the rural part, our turnout is low. If we checked earlier figures, it was never 70 per cent. It was around 50 per cent only.”
URBAN-RURAL DIVIDE
Pawar feels that it happened due to the tendency of the middle class. “Wherever there is sizable middle-class population, there is a tendency of low voting. The urban middle class is not active in voting. The maximum voting was observed in Parvati and Cantonment areas. These areas have slums pockets. Middle-class and higher middle-class are not enthusiastic about voting. They always wanted that someone should work for them.”
He further added, “In last Lok Sabha elections, there was an anti-incumbency factor. Therefore, it was higher as compared to this year. The candidate is one of the factors which may affect turnout”
City Unit Chief of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Yogesh Gogawale said, “Our traditional supporters voted for BJP. The percentage will affect the opposition party. Last Lok Sabha, there were two more parties (MNS and AAP). Therefore, there was an extra force utilised. This time, it was not the case. However, we can’t tell exactly what is the reason behind the low response of people.”
VOTER LIST MESS?
City Congress President Ramesh Bagwe left no opportunity to blame this on the government. “Government is responsible for the low turnout. They made mistakes in the voters’ list. Therefore, people didn’t find their names and could not vote. As compare to higher and middle-class, there was a high voting percentage in slum areas. It is a conspiracy of government to make faulty voters list and help ruling party,” he said.
HIGHEST TURNOUT IN KASBA
Pune consists of six constituencies- Vadgaon Sheri, Kasba, Shivajinagar, Parvati, Pune cantonment and Kothrud. Kasba, a stronghold of BJP, has recorded maximum 55.88 per cent of voting, followed by Parvati (52.07) and Kothrud (50.26), again bastion of BJP. However, as compared to 2014 Lok Sabha polls, the percentage has gone down in Parvati, Kasba and Kothrud. Parvati constituency has more slum pockets whereas Kasba and Kothrud are a pure mix of slums and societies.
Vadgaon Sheri is another key factor of Pune Lok Sabha constituency as it has the highest number of voters as compared to other constituencies. This election, there was 46.41 per cent of voting compared to 41.89 in last Lok Sabha elections.
I read in the newspapers that no one is serious about common man’s problems. All parties are engaged in making allegations against each other. In this election, there is no issue taken up by political parties related to people. It may be wrong from others point of view, but this is why I didn’t vote.
— Sneha Kamble (Primary teacher, Kharadi)
