Bhubaneswar: Why doesn’t Bhubaneswar vote in large numbers? Some say it clashes with their Salsa or Zoomba classes, others that their drivers had taken off on the voting day. Some even lamented that no political party ever promises to reduce Gold’s Gym rates.
Okay, that was from a WhatsApp joke about Mumbai, but just 43.02 per cent voter turnout in Bhubaneswar Central does not set it very apart from, say, Mumbai North Central, which had registered 49.37 per cent turnout in 2014, much better than 39.63 per cent in 2009. This time Mumbai will vote on Monday (April 29).
Urban voter indifference was evident in Bhubaneswar Lok Sabha constituency, when it cast votes on April 23 (Tuesday). Jayadev registered the highest voter turnout of 75.78 per cent, as against 43.02 per cent in tony Bhubaneswar Central. The final turnout figure in the city stood at 61.53 per cent, about two percentage points more than 2014 elections, but largely driven by rural voters.
So what makes voters in urban Bhubaneswar indifferent to the elections?
According to the Coordinator of Odisha Election Watch Ranjan Mohanty, multiple factors come into play.
1. A good percentage of the voters fail to cast their votes as they remain out of the city for different reasons. The student community misses out because this is the time for admissions outside the state.
2. Dual voters: Even as the Election Commission makes periodic amendments to weed out such voters from the voter list, their number remains high. And such voters prefer to cast their votes at their native place than in the state capital.
3. Indifference to elections: The capital city has a high number of educated voters, yet voting percentage remains low. They would rather enjoy time with family and relatives or make good use of the day visiting tourist destinations.
4. Stronger attachment among rural voters with the electoral process than among voters in urban Bhubaneswar.
There are a good number of other reasons as well.
Confusions about booth:
A good number of senior citizens this correspondent spoke to complained about not being properly informed about their booths. Nirmal Charan Behera, a retired engineer in Kanan Vihar, under Bhubaneswar-North seat, said he had to return disappointed from a polling booth after being told to visit the other polling station where he was registered.
Similarly, Manju Jena of Sailashree Vihar said: “During the last election, I had cast my vote at a nearby polling booth. When I visited the booth this time, my name was missing from the list. One of the agents told me to visit a booth in Niladri Vihar, but I returned disheartened.”
The Election Commission has fixed the polling schedule in a way that will give voters an extended weekend and encourage them to exercise their franchise. Elections have either been held on a Thursday or a Tuesday, giving voters the option to avail of a leave in between and enjoy a long weekend. But the trend at urban centres in the first three phases shows that voters did pack their bags and head for holiday destinations. Hyderabad was a perfect example of this trend.
What about Bhubaneswarities?
A representative of Odisha Holidays said there was a drastic increase in inbound travel during the weekend, but the booking of holiday packages from Bhubaneswar remained flat. In other words, people stayed put at their homes.
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