BHUBANESWAR: Moving the mountain seems easier than bringing Bhubaneswarites to the polling booths. All the voters’ awareness exercises and high-decibel campaigns fall on deaf ears of denizens of the Capital City when it comes to the election day. Yet again, the City disappointed as turnout of voters remained one of the lowest on Tuesday. By 5 pm, just about 40 per cent voters had turned up in the City which primarily comprises three Assembly segments - Bhubaneswar-Ekamra, Bhubaneswar-North and Bhubaneswar-Central.
The seven Assembly segments that went to polls in the third phase under Bhubaneswar Parliamentary constituency recorded little below 50 per cent voter turnout by 5 pm. While the final report would be available on Wednesday, it is unlikely to significantly improve the situation. In 2014, Bhubaneswar Lok Sabha seat had recorded 58.38 per cent polling. Before that, the turnout was 49.14 per cent in 2009. Bhubaneswarites apparently learn nothing from history.
What was appalling was the fact that the three Assembly constituencies have reported very little variation compared to 2014. According to Sub-Collector of Bhubaneswar Suvendu Kumar Nayak, Bhubaneswar-Ekamra reported 45 per cent turnout compared to 45.97 per cent in 2014 whereas Bhubaneswar-North recorded 37.36 per cent against 41.33 per cent last time.
Similarly in Bhubaneswar-Central segment, just about 38 per cent voters turned up by 5 pm. Last time, the number was 41.9 per cent. This meant just 40 per cent voters of the City showed up at polling booths and exercised their rights on the day as many booths wore a deserted look after 1 pm.
The voting percentage across the Lok Sabha constituency, which was around six per cent at 9 am in the morning, increased to only around 18 per cent by 1 pm. Was it the hot and sweltering conditions that prevented the voters or is it plain indifference?
“I went into the booth at Laxmi Sagar School at 7.10 am with my son and voted. I don’t know why people won’t just come and vote in the City when they engage in heated debates about upholding the values of democracy,” wondered Shyam Sundar Das, a former employee of NIT-Rourkela who has been living in Bhubaneswar since 2004. Das has been voting since six decades.
A polling official at Unit-1 Primary School in Bhubaneswar-Central described how the City residents refrain from voting. “Though we have 1,900 voters registered under this booth, half of them never turned up for polling during any elections,” the lady officer said, adding, “During survey last year, we had stumbled upon this fact.”
A major reason could be a large chunk of natives of Bhubaneswar are no more living in the City, having migrated to other parts of the State and the country for education and jobs. They barely come back to vote. “The nature of our jobs does not permit us a trip back to Bhubaneswar to cast vote. Online voting can help people like me,” said Lopamudra, who works with a multinational company based outside the State Capital.
Similarly, the number of people from other States who work here is substantial and they show very little interest to vote. Many are not even listed.Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) for Odisha Surendra Kumar also said it is difficult to explain the low voter turnout in the City. “Though we had made all arrangements, voter turnout in these urban areas still remained low. You have to find out why,” Kumar told scribes.