Dehradun: Uttarakhand has recorded over 62.52 % voter turnout – which means a fall of 3% in comparison to the 2017 figure of 65.5%.
Polling took place in 70 assembly seats on Monday, February 14. It was largely peaceful, state Chief Electoral Officer Soujanya announced late on Monday.
The 3% drop in voting is cause for worry, say social activists, and its possible repercussion on poll prospects is concerning to both Bharatiya Janata Party and Congress camps in the Himalayan state.
In 2017, BJP had come to power by winning 57 out of the total 70 assembly seats in Uttarakhand.
The three point drop in polling percentage can be attributed to two important reasons, voters’ disinterest and the timing of elections in Uttarakhand, considering its weather.
The state has 81,72,173 registered electors. Among them are 1,58,621 voters aged 80 years and above, and 71,440 people with disability.
The cold, coupled with the fact that the state is largely hilly, make accessing polling booths a challenge for several voters.
| District in Uttarakhand | Voter turnout figures, according to EC |
| Almora | 50.65% |
| Bageshwar | 60.08% |
| Chamoli | 59.28% |
| Champawat | 56.97% |
| Dehradun | 53.17% |
| Haridwar | 68.37% |
| Nainital | 63.59 % |
| Pauri Garhwal | 51.43% |
| Pithoragarh | 57.49% |
| Rudarprayag | 60.36% |
| Tehri Garhwal | 52.66 % |
| US Nagar | 66.13% |
| Uttarkashi | 65.55% |
A senior Uttarakhand BJP leader told The Wire that the comparatively high turnout in Haridwar district is worrying as it could indicate that Muslim voters, who comprise a large section in the district, have cast their votes, which traditionally do not go to BJP.
“This district has several assembly seats where the Muslim community has large number of voters and this means results in many seats could be unexpected,” said the BJP leader, also drawing attention to ‘floating’ votes not going for BJP.
In 2017, the BJP had recorded over 46% vote share.
Congress spokesperson Garima Mehra Dasauni also called the drop “disturbing” and said the party must think of reasons behind the drop and address the issues behind it.
Polling officials carrying election material on their way to their respective polling booths, a day before the Uttarakhand Assembly elections, in Chamoli. Photo: PTI
Dehradun based Anoop Nautiyal, who heads Social Development for Communities, blamed the Election Commission of India and state election commission, for the drop in voters’ turnout. “There was no mechanism of including civil society in planning this democracy’s biggest event – elections – and the result is the drop in the voters’ turnout,” he said.
He went on to raise the question as to why the Election Commission did not consider the cold weather and difficult terrain of Uttarakhand. “Today the weather in the hills was such that it was very difficult for anyone to walk several kilometres to reach a polling booth. The pandemic situation also hit the turnout,” said Nautiyal.
Social activist Udit Ghildyal feels that postponing the polling day to coincide with the fourth phase of elections in Uttar Pradesh would have saved the situation. “The Election Commission spends several crores of rupees in advertisements asking people to exercise their franchise but somehow thought it wise to hold polls in this cold winter in Uttarakhand. Postponing the polling to February end would have made a big difference in overall voting percentage,” he said.