Higher polling in villages may tilt scales

Ruchika M Khanna

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, February 6

Voters in the rural constituencies of Punjab came out in higher numbers than their counterparts in the urban segments to elect their representatives to the 14th Vidhan Sabha.

The office of the CEO has been unable to release the figures of the divide between rural and urban votes polled on February 4, but segment-wise turnout indicate that rural voters has the edge.

In each of the 22 districts, the turnout in rural segments was higher than in urban segments. In some cases, the difference was as high as 16 per cent.

On an average, the turnout was 5 per cent higher than those in cities.

In Majha, which has 25 seats, the sharpest difference between urban and rural voters was in Amritsar district. The poll percentage in five constituencies of the city ranged between 60.04 (Amritsar West) and 67.09 (Amritsar North).

Compare this with rural constituencies. Ajnala recorded a turnout of 83.51 per cent; Rajasansi, 79.84 per cent; and Majitha, 78.77 per cent. Gurdaspur polled 2 per cent lower than the district’s rural constituencies of Fatehgarh Churian and Dera Baba Nanak.

At 72.75 per cent, the turnout in Tarn Taran paled in comparison to more rural segment of Khadoor Sahib, where the turnout was 76.18 per cent.

In Doaba, the overall voter turnout was lower than in Majha. But here, too, rural voters were more assertive in choosing their representatives. In each district of the region — Kapurthala, Jalandhar, Hoshiarpur and Nawanshahr — accounting for 23 seats, villagers came out in larger numbers to vote. Balachaur, a rural segment, polled 79.46 per cent votes and Shahkot, 78.28 percent, while almost all urban constituencies of Jalandhar polled an average of 70 per cent votes.

The reason for the lower vote percentage in Doaba, as compared to Majha and Malwa, is that several voters are abroad.

The trend in Malwa, which accounts for the largest number of constituencies (69) and where the “new kid on the block” — the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) — seems to have a sway, was no different.

The urban pockets such as Mohali, Ludhiana, Bathinda Urban, Ferozepur City and Patiala saw an average of 65 to 67 per cent turnout, while rural segments – including the all-important Lambi (85.73 per cent), and Jalalabad (86.91 per cent) — saw a higher turnout.

Other rural constituencies such as Dirba, Jaito, Talwandi Sabo, Mehal Kalan, Bhadaur, Sanaur and Ghanaur recorded a higher turnout than the state’s total of 77.3 per cent.

In the 2012 Assembly elections, when the fight was between the Akali-BJP alliance and the Congress, a higher rural voter turnout had favoured the combine, especially in the Majha and Doaba regions.

But this time, with AAP entering the fray and making inroads into rural constituencies, and the SAD getting the rural vote base because of the Dera Sacha Sauda’s support, it remains to be seen whom rural population elects as their representatives.