Gurugram adds 88,000 voters; 2 lakh migrants refuse to shift votes to district

Tribune News Service

Sumedha Sharma

Gurugram, January 20

Following an year-long electoral awareness drive, the Gurugram administration has added over 88,000 new voters to the voter list. The total number of voters has now reached over 13 lakh in the district.

Low enrolment in urban areas: DC

Deputy Commissioner Nishant Yadav said: “Gurugram is known for low voter enrolment and output, especially in urban areas, which are inhabited by corporates. The new voters are majorly from these areas. Our efforts are on to get more people on board to make more voter turnout a reality.”

The administration had been running special awareness programmes, in which while over 88,000 voters — primarily youths and first timers — were added and over 20,000 votes issued on similar pictures were cancelled.

“Gurugram is known for low voter enrolment and output, especially in urban areas, which are inhabited by corporates. The new voters are majorly from these areas. Our efforts are on to get more people on board to make more voter turnout a reality,” said DC Nishant Yadav.

For the first time, migrants in the district were given an option to get their votes shifted to Gurugram. However, over two lakh of them refused to do so, citing lack of enough freebies in Haryana elections.

“We conducted mega drives in industries and migrant settlements and approached them to get their votes made or transferred to Gurugram as they live here. We were expecting a better response. However, over two lakh migrants denied this and wanted to stick to their parent states,” said a senior administration official.

Talking to The Tribune, a representative of Purvanchal Welfare Association said: “Most of us are from Bihar, UP and Bengal. Our votes are precious there and during every election, we get major incentives from different parties. Who cares about us here?”

The administration is also holding special camps across colleges and corporates to get more voters aboard. They have also launched a special helpline to help those with facing any issues for registration or correction in voter IDs.

“We are approaching corporates and colleges to get young people enrolled for votes. We are holding special camps in societies to help with corrections. We want the city to participate whole heartedly in the forthcoming elections,” DC Yadav said.

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