Jhajjar has most number of voters per 1,000 population in state

Sushil Manav

Tribune News Service

Sirsa, February 10

Residents of Jhajjar district seem to be among the most awakened people for their right to franchise, while those living in the neighbouring Gurgaon are the least conscious.

As per the elector population ratio (EPR) shown in the electoral rolls published by the Election Commission this year, 686 persons out of 1,000 are registered as voters in Jhajjar, while in Gurgaon, the number is merely 442.

Among the districts with good EPR are Ambala (667), Kurukshetra (647), Rewari (644), Rohtak (642), Mahendragarh (641), Sonepat (640), Fatehabad (636), Sirsa, Hisar and Jind (634), Bhiwani (631), Kaithal (625), Karnal (615) and Faridabad (608).

Among the districts with the poor EPR, Mewat closely follows Gurgaon, with a ratio of 467.

Palwal with the EPR of 539, Panchkula (567), Panipat (569) and Yamunanagar (600) are some other districts with the EPR lower than the overall state’s elector-population ratio of 603 against 1,000 voters.

While the EPR of some districts has improved from what it was last year, districts like Gurgaon and Mewat have gone from bad to worse.

Jhajjar district, for instance, improved its EPR from 682 in 2015 to 686 in 2016. Ambala falls in the same category, where the ratio has improved from 665 to 667.

The EPR of Kurukshetra went up from 642 to 647 in one year and in Rewari, from 636 to 644.

On the contrary, the EPR of Gurgaon dipped from 468 in 2015 to 442 in 2016 and that of Mewat from 475 to 467 in the past one year.

The overall EPR of the state also dipped from 609 in 2015 to 603 this year.

An official of the election department at Sirsa said the poor EPR in cities such as Gurgaon, Panipat and Panchkula was due to presence of a large number of migrant labourers and businessmen from other places, who are already registered as voters in their home districts.

District wise elector-population ratio

Jhajjar 686

Ambala 667

Kurukshetra 647

Rewari 644

Rohtak 642

Mahendragarh 641

Sonepat  640

Fatehabad 636

Sirsa 634

Hisar 634

Jind  634 

Bhiwani 631

Kaithal 625

Karnal 615

Faridabad 608

Yamunanagar 600

Panipat 569

Panchkula 567

Palwal 539

Mewat 467

Gurgaon 442