Making the vote count, including in the cities

The turnout in Maharashtra, at over 65% is the highest in the last 30 years. This is remarkable for two reasons: One, it shows a nearly four percentage point hike over the 2024 Lok Sabha election figure; and two, it is closer to the average national turnout in elections, which is pegged at around 65-66%. The Maharashtra numbers are closely watched for the reason that the state has the largest urban population in the country, and it has historically trailed behind the average national turnout because of the low voting in cities and towns.

However, a closer reading of the Maharashtra figure suggests that urban apathy to voting hasn’t entirely disappeared. For instance, Kolhapur district in western Maharashtra recorded a high of 76.25%, followed by Gadchiroli, which ironically is in news headlines for the reported presence of Maoists and reported polling of 73.68%, whereas Mumbai city district had a low turnout of 52.07%. Other urban districts such as Pune, Thane, and Mumbai suburban have also recorded similar numbers.

The silver lining, however, is there has been an overall improvement in polling across the state. Credit for this turnaround, though slow and incremental, mostly goes to the Election Commission of India (ECI). ECI has been aggressive in its push to increase polling: ECI’s stance has been if voters don’t come to you, the commission goes to the voters. Its campaign, including on social media, has featured local celebrities — cricketers to film stars — and the outreach has included setting up polling booths at high-rise buildings and housing societies and a token system to reduce queuing time. The high-voltage campaigns by political parties have also helped to increase voter participation. The interesting contradiction is that citizen discontent with politics, visible in Maharashtra for instance, rarely transforms into election boycotts in India but results in the endorsement of the vote as an instrument to enforce accountability. That’s reassuring for Indian democracy.

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