BENGALURU: Bengaluru Urban continues to be disinterested in the most-important democratic process, casting the vote, and the story has remained the same for the last four decades. The district has registered the lowest voter turnout among all districts in the State, be it the Lok Sabha or Assembly elections or by-elections.
On Tuesday too, when the Rajrajeshwari Nagar was facing the bypoll, of the 4.6 lakh voters in the constituency, less than two lakh people voted, registering a poll percentage of just 45.24. This is because of a deep sense of apathy, a large migrant population and a trust deficit in the system, experts said, trying to make sense of the turnout.Despite the Election Commission carrying out aggressive voter awareness drives, the average polling has remained in the range of 50 per cent, shows data from the poll panel.
During the 2008 Assembly elections, Bengaluru recorded 46.9 per cent voting, in 2013, it increased to 52.8 per cent and in 2018, it went a tad lower to 51 per cent. Figures for the Lok Sabha elections too are not too far from this midpoint and hovered around 48 per cent in the previous parliamentary polls. In all these elections, Bengaluru has had the dubious distinction of being the last among districts.
Political scientist Prof Sandeep Shatri said Bengaluru has the highest number of educated, but cynical, voters. “There is a deep sense of apathy. They have this attitude: They love democracy but hate politics. Bengaluru Urban district was formed in the early 1980s and since then, it has recorded the lowest poll percentage.” He said that for people like them, None of the Above (NOTA) option was introduced. But voters still did not turn up.
Chief Electoral Officer, Karnataka, Sanjiv Kumar too blamed the attitude of Bengalureans. “Unlike in rural places, where there are a number of issues, like bad roads, no power etc, there are no such pressing issues bothering Bengaluru residents.
Also, a holiday is declared on the polling day for many, while some free time is given to others. But the numbers have always been disappointing,” he said.Civic evangelist Ravi Chandar said, “This indicates that there is a trust deficit on the system. Also, as the outsider population is large, there is a lack of local connect.”