06-04-14
Vid had seen highest turn-out
of voters in 2nd general polls
* The lowest turn-out was in the year 1991, when the country witnessed the economic crisis
By Kartik Lokhande
With all the political parties, countless social and voluntary
organisations, and the administrative machinery motivating people to go
to vote, it will be interesting to see how many voters turn-out on April
10, the polling date for Lok Sabha elections this time in Vidarbha
region.
This also calls for a look-back at the voter turn-out in Vidarbha in the
past general elections, and the events that might have affected the
polling percentage. The region, which now comprises 11 districts and 10
Lok Sabha constituencies, has never recorded less than 50 per cent voter
turn-out. It recorded 78.88 per cent polling in the first general
elections to Lok Sabha held in the year 1951. The highest-ever polling
percentage in the region was registered in 1957, when the second general
elections to Lok Sabha were held. Then, 82.25 was the polling
percentage. However, barring the first two general elections, voter
turn-out in Vidarbha always remained under 70 per cent.
The general elections held in the year 1962, however, saw a drop of
almost 14 per cent in number of voters exercising their franchise in
Vidarbha. The next elections saw a marginal rise of slightly over 1 per
cent. Then on, the voter turn-out in Vidarbha has been inconsistent.
Sometimes, there was increase over the previous year, followed by sudden
drop. The year 1991 saw polling percentage in Vidarbha drop to the
lowest-ever level of 52.41, from 66.17 in 1989 elections. Then, many had
attributed this drop to the impact of economic crisis in these three
years.
Three elections were held in four years starting from 1996. Bharatiya
Janata Party (BJP) came to power for the first time in 1996, but its
Government led by Atal Behari Vajpayee lasted only for 13 days as it
could not secure required majority. It was replaced by a Government of
United Front led by H D Deve Gowda, which also did not last long and
general elections to Lok Sabha were held once again in 1998. This time,
voting percentage in Vidarbha increased to 63.94 from 59.08 in 1996. The
Vajpayee Government lasted for 13 months and once again elections were
held in 1999. Vidarbha continued with steady increase in voter turn-out,
which rose to 65.20 in 1999.
At the end of five-year rule of BJP-led NDA Government, when the general
elections to Lok Sabha were held in 2004, the voter turn-out again
decreased by around six per cent compared to previous election. This
time, Congress-led UPA Government came to power in the Centre. When the
elections were held after five years, once again, there was steady
decline in voter turn-out in Vidarbha. Polling percentage dipped by
around four per cent in 2009, compared to previous election.
A look at Vidarbha’s voting performance in specially the past five
general elections to Lok Sabha, reveals that polling percentage
increased in 1996 and 1998. But, since 1999, it has declined steadily.
This has triggered a lot of concern among political parties as polling
percentage dipped specially in urban segments of the Parliamentary
constituencies. Even nationally, dip in polling percentage despite rise
in population drew attention of political leaders as well as
administrative machinery.
Especially in 2009 elections, many voters in Vidarbha alleged that their
names were missing or polling booths were changed after delimitation of
constituencies. This was considered as one of the major reasons behind
decline in polling percentage. As a result, over the past five years,
efforts were made systematically to remove as many discrepancies
possible from the electoral rolls. Besides, a new option of ‘None of the
Above’ (NOTA) has been introduced considering the possibility that many
voters wanted to express their dissent by not going to vote. All the
political parties, social and voluntary organisations, Election
Commission of India, administrative machinery, and media organisations
have tried to motivate people to vote in more numbers. Against this
backdrop, it will be interesting to see if there is desired increase in
polling percentage, at least in Vidarbha region.
Voting in Lok Sabha elections in Vidarbha
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Year No of Voters Actual Voting Polling %age
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1951 38,04,008 30,00,716 78.88
1957 43,46,558 35,75,037 82.25
1962 49,69,758 33,99,071 68.40
1967 56,18,415 39,02,225 69.45
1971 58,85,508 38,78,438 65.90
1977 64,95,159 43,22,134 66.54
1980 74,14,306 45,26,171 61.04
1984 80,88,487 54,04,459 66.81
1989 1,02,72,372 67,97,422 66.17
1991 1,04,59,707 54,82,082 52.41
1996 1,18,41,163 69,96,293 59.08
1998 1,21,05,134 77,40,453 63.94
1999 1,21,79,460 79,41,576 65.20
2004 1,33,24,266 79,20,940 59.45
2009 1,47,64,056 82,20,369 55.68
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