Urban voter apathy
A majority of Indian cities have had poor voter turnout. The urban disconnect is harmful to the democratic process
Every five years, some of us undertake a pilgrimage — we travel hundreds of kilometres across the length and breadth of our great nation to exercise our franchise. Participating in the dance of democracy is no less elevated an experience than seeking spiritual enhancement. Those of us who have not transferred voting rights from our janma bhoomi to our karma bhoomi, trudge this path. And for that, they have my respect, given that apathy among urban voters is only increasing every time there is an election. Almost 15 years ago, while reporting for a national news channel, I remember presenting urban apathy as a poll issue for political parties, and even as years passed, here we are today.
The reason behind the urban voter’s disinterest is hard to gauge. Is it a disinclination towards voting in general, sheer laziness, or being just ill-prepared? I personally know at least a dozen people who have not voted this year. Some are unaware if their names are on the rolls (they use digital platforms for everything and yet have not heard of the Election Commission of India (ECI) website!). Some say that they couldn’t make the journey back home but also didn’t transfer their vote (I mean look, we tentatively know when elections are to be held about 5 years in advance and get at least a month’s notice to book tickets. I’m sure several domestic and overseas trips must have taken place in the interim, but of course, travelling to vote seemed hard to accommodate). Then there are others who genuinely believe that their vote won’t make a difference.
Voter turnouts in many urban constituencies in 2024 are lower than that in 2019. As per news reports that collated ECI data, urban centres have fared decidedly badly since the last General Elections. Mumbai North, Mumbai North Central, Mumbai South Central, Lucknow, Howrah, Jhansi, Indore, Ujjain, Guwahati, Gandhinagar, Ahmedabad East, Ahmedabad West, Jamnagar, Rajkot, Vadodara, Agra, Chennai Central, Chennai North, Chennai South, Madurai, Thiruvananthapuram, Jaipur, Jodhpur, Udaipur, Jabalpur, Gaya, Rampur, Moradabad, Noida, Ghaziabad, Meerut, and Delhi among many others failed to quell the urban voter’s disenchantment with the election process. There were few shining stars that improved voter turnout and set an example — Hyderabad, Secunderabad, Warangal, Pune, and Gwalior. Maintaining similar voter turnouts were Bengaluru, North Goa, South Goa, Raipur, Bhopal, Nagpur, Kozhikode, and Mysore.
The searing heat obviously is a major detriment to the voting process. Temperatures climb steadily but there is no thought by the ECI to slightly change the election schedule. Polls are being held in the most sweltering time of the year with some of the longest phases. Leave alone urging people to vote, the voting conditions proactively dissuade the already unenthused city voter.
There’s also a discernible age gap among urban voters. It’s hearty to see senior citizens still coming out and voting in spite of the inhuman heat, long-standing ailments, and age-related frailty. Have the younger generations completely missed the missive? Low voter turnout has been witnessed across the poll seasons traversing municipal, assembly, and Lok Sabha elections. Globally too, there is voter fatigue, and perhaps, outreach to get them excited about their suffrage, has failed. However, in India, the lack of urban voter participation could be a resignation to the perceived writing on the wall. Election lists still have errors and phantom voters. But most importantly, urban malaise is dangerous as it weakens the democratic process, wherein the common person gets more and more disengaged from governance. If we don’t care enough to vote, then we allow injustices, inefficiencies, and corruptions to permeate into the systems. We allow for institutions to be weakened, opposition parties to be decimated, and unknowingly fuel the vanishing of a vibrant democracy. When we don’t vote, we voluntarily give up one of our most important rights as a citizen.
The writer is an author and media entrepreneur. Views expressed are personal
