Low voting percentage – Stop whipping the urban middle class

The Missing Angle - Questionable electorate numbers

Consistently low voting percentage quoted in spite of every effort made this time to create voting awareness has kick started the debate on ineffectuality. The ground reality suggests active participation of the electorate, yet the figures quoted is dismal 40%-45%. In other words 55%-60% of enrolled voters have not participated. There are sufficient reasons to debate the authenticity of electorate figure itself, which has found scant attention during the debate.

All this time, the urban middle class was blamed for not participating in the electoral process. This time every effort was made to create awareness starting by the media (as part of social commitment), celebrities, Bollywood promotion documentaries, NGO’s and advertisement by election commission itself. Yet, all the 5 rounds found sustained low figures in both urban and rural areas.

Urban areas
There is high political curiosity amongst the average urban population as reinforced by the finding that every other person when enquired reassures his participation in the election. The urban streets look desolated on the Election Day except for the vote exercising activity. Yet the urban voting percentage mentioned at the end of voting is well below the mark. The employees of unorganised sector who hail from interiors avail forceful absence, as the lure of voting in villages is much more.

Rural area
The voter mobilization is much more organized in rural areas. They are enticed in various forms just before voting. In these days of costliest elections every vote is for commercial exploitation. People who have migrated to urban areas are brought back on the voting day. An article in The Hindu quoting the large migration from Gulbarga and arrangements being made by all political parties to bring them back is testimony to it. All arrangements are made to transport them locally also albeit with much less visibility than before to avoid the eyes of election observers. Having committed, non-participation in the election process becomes obvious to electorate mobilizers in rural area. Lastly, inflated voter registration gives the political parties increased manoeuvring space as 90% or more voting in any booth is scrutinized by the election commission.

System Contribution
The election commission doesn’t have the capability to verify the enrolment of large-scale bogus voters. Secondly, multiple enrolments in native & places of work continue.

The very fact that 10,000 – 15,000 votes are deleted at one stroke speaks volumes. Secondly, with such large scale unemployment & the ability to muster a crowd of 1-5 lakh people easily for a single political rally’s is taken into consideration the figure of 55-60% of enrolled voters not participating in the election process is hard to digest.

Consequently, there is need to look at the questionable numbers itself rather than whip the urban middle class for the ill as usual.

Sharad