NEW DELHI:
Urban apathy
sapped voter turnouts in several parts of Haryana, with assembly constituencies (ACs) like Gurgaon and Faridabad witnessing nearly 16 and 14 percentage points less polling respectively, as compared to the state’s overall turnout of 67.9%. In fact, the turnout in 34 of the total 90 ACs, was lower than the state average.
The EC, in a statement on Monday, said the trend of low urban participation by voters in Haryana mirrors the patterns seen in previous assembly elections in Karnataka, Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh.
The EC said several initiatives were undertaken by it to motivate and engage urban voters — ahead of the
2024 Lok Sabha elections
, the EC had engaged in special consultations with municipal commissioners and select district election officers, and introduced a turnout implementation plan. “However, despite the commission’s intensive efforts, the participation continues to be sub-par,” EC conceded.
Concerned, the EC on Monday resolved to “further strengthen measures and take innovative outreach drives to deal with urban apathy in the upcoming elections in predominantly urban states like Maharashtra.”
Assembly polls in Maharashtra and Jharkhand are likely to be declared any day after the counting for J&K and Haryana concludes on Tuesday.
Urban constituencies
in cities like Mumbai and Pune have witnessed lower turnouts in past elections on account of voter apathy.
At 67.9%, the polling in Haryana this time surpassed the 64.8% recorded in 2024 Lok Sabha elections in the state but was lower than the 68.3% turnout in 2019 assembly polls. Male electors’ turnout in Haryana was 68.9%, 2.2 percentage points higher than 66.7% polling by women.
The 51.8% turnout in Gurgaon was not only lower than the 2019 assembly poll turnout of 52.4%, but the difference from the state turnout this time was higher than the corresponding figure of the 2019 assembly poll.
However, Faridabad fared better, clocking turnout of 53.7% as compared to 49.6% in 2019. The difference between Faridabad AC turnout and state turnout in 2024 (14.2 percentage points) also narrowed as compared to that recorded in 2019 (18.7 percentage points).
The difference between AC turnout and overall Haryana turnout in these polls was higher than the corresponding gap in 2019 for some other urban ACs like Panchkula, Sonipat and Badshahpur, as per final EVM turnout figures shared by EC on Monday. However, the trend was reversed for ACs like Ballabgarh and Karnal.
Bharti Jain/TNN
New Delhi: Urban apathy sapped voter turnouts in several parts of Haryana, with assembly constituencies (ACs) like Gurgaon and Faridabad witnessing nearly 16 and 14 percentage points less polling respectively, as compared to the state’s overall turnout of 67.9%. In fact, the turnout in 34 of the total 90 ACs, was lower than the state average.
The EC, in a statement on Monday, said the trend of low urban participation by voters in Haryana mirrors the patterns seen in previous assembly elections in Karnataka, Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh.
The EC said several initiatives were undertaken by it to motivate and engage urban voters — ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the EC had engaged in special consultations with municipal commissioners and select district election officers, and introduced a turnout implementation plan. “However, despite the commission’s intensive efforts, the participation continues to be sub-par,” EC conceded.
Concerned, the EC on Monday resolved to “further strengthen measures and take innovative outreach drives to deal with urban apathy in the upcoming elections in predominantly urban states like Maharashtra.”
Assembly polls in Maharashtra and Jharkhand are likely to be declared any day after the counting for J&K and Haryana concludes on Tuesday. Urban constituencies in cities like Mumbai and Pune have witnessed lower turnouts in past elections on account of voter apathy.
At 67.9%, the polling in Haryana this time surpassed the 64.8% recorded in 2024 Lok Sabha elections in the state but was lower than the 68.3% turnout in 2019 assembly polls. Male electors’ turnout in Haryana was 68.9%, 2.2 percentage points higher than 66.7% polling by women.
The 51.8% turnout in Gurgaon was not only lower than the 2019 assembly poll turnout of 52.4%, but the difference from the state turnout this time was higher than the corresponding figure of the 2019 assembly poll.
However, Faridabad fared better, clocking turnout of 53.7% as compared to 49.6% in 2019. The difference between Faridabad AC turnout and state turnout in 2024 (14.2 percentage points) also narrowed as compared to that recorded in 2019 (18.7 percentage points).
The difference between AC turnout and overall Haryana turnout in these polls was higher than the corresponding gap in 2019 for some other urban ACs like Panchkula, Sonipat and Badshahpur, as per final EVM turnout figures shared by EC on Monday. However, the trend was reversed for ACs like Ballabgarh and Karnal.
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