MUMBAI: The low voter turnout in all five Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra that went for elections in the first phase have increased tensions between BJP and Congress.
The five constituencies reported a voting percentage of 57.82 per cent.
Interestingly, the tribal and Naxalite-affected district Gadchiroli seat reported the highest voting percentage among the five seats at 66.3%.
However, in comparison, with the 2019 general sections the number was down by 6.03%.
Congress has fielded Dr Namdev Kirsan against BJP’s sitting Lok Sabha MP Ashok Nete in the Gadchiroli seat .
Nagpur Lok Sabha seat
Meanwhile, in Nagpur where Union Minister Nitin Gadkari is seeking a third term against the Congress candidate Vikas Thakre, a voting percentage of 51.54% was recorded against 57.8% in the 2019 elections.
A similar pattern was recorded in the other four remaining Lok Sabha seats.
Ramtek Lok Sabha seat
In Ramtek, the voter turnout was 55.46% against 62.30% in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
Congress candidate Shyamkumar Barve is contesting against Shiv Sena candidate Raju Parve.
Bhandara-Gondia Lok Sabha seat
The Bhandara-Gondia Lok Sabha constituency also witnessed a 61.37% voter turnout against 68.8% in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, a decline of 7.44%.
Congress has fielded Dr Prashant Padole against sitting BJP Lok Sabha MP Sunil Mende in the constituency.
Chandrapur Lok Sabha seat
However, it was the Chandrapur Lok Sabha seat that witnessed a major drop in voter turnout percentage at 57.9% against 67.7% voter turnout in the last Lok Sabha elections, a decline of 9.9%.
BJP minister Sudhir Mungantiwar has fielded against Congress candidate Pratibha Dhanorkar in the seat.
Political analysts have traditionally viewed low voter turnout as a passive endorsement of the current government.
“The low voter turnout in this election also indicated the absence of a clear prevailing trend. However, considering the BJP's historical performance, it has consistently gained from significant voter participation, as observed in the 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha elections. In 2014, voters expressed their discontent with the Congress, while in 2019, the voter's support for PM Narendra Modi's second term, coupled with the impact of events like the Pulwama incident,” he said.
However, in this election, there were no such strong emotions or issues that people were talking about.
"Inflation, price rise, unemployment and other area specific issues continue to be the talk of the town," the political observer added.