Urban voters’ participation dips to 61.91% in Ambala

Nitish Sharma

Ambala, May 27

Despite holding multiple rallies, including those by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other star campaigners, and intensive campaigning by MLAs, the BJP couldn’t motivate the urban voters, considered to be the party’s vote bank, to reach the polling stations.

Local issues were missing

There is a section of middle class urban voters who don’t show much interest in voting till they are personally contacted, and have some issue-based reasons to vote. Local issues were missing and no efforts were seen in the field by the parties to motivate them. Kuldeep Mehndiratta, Assistant Professor, Kurukshetra University

The Ambala City and Cantonment Assembly constituencies having BJP MLAs (Minister of State Aseem Goel and former state Home Minister Anil Vij, respectively) registered voting percentage of just 61.91 and 61.63, respectively.

In 2019, the Assembly constituencies had registered 63.89 per cent and 64.15 per cent, respectively.

Meanwhile, voters of rural segments Mullana and Naraingarh (represented by Congress MLAs Varun Chaudhry and Shalley Chaudhary) registered 70.16 per cent and 70.38 per cent, respectively. Varun contested the Lok Sabha election from Ambala.

Though both constituencies witnessed a drop in turnout compared to the 2019 election — Naraingarh had witnessed a turnout of 74.55 per cent and Mullana 73.12 per cent — the voters of rural segments continue to exhibit their enthusiasm toward their democratic duty compared to the urban segments.

Similarly, in Kurukshetra, of four Assembly constituencies, Thanesar and Pehowa (represented by BJP MLAs, Minister of State Subhash Sudha and Sandeep Singh) registered turnout of 62.91 per cent each.

In the previous election, the Pehowa constituency had registered a turnout of 72.60 per cent and Thanesar 68.98 per cent.

Ladwa represented by Congress MLA Mewa Singh and Shahabad represented by JJP MLA Ram Karan Kala registered 71.69 per cent and 69.89 per cent turnout, respectively, against the turnout of 78.63 per cent and 78.60 per cent in 2019.

Kurukshetra BJP district chief Ravi Battan said: “There were several factors behind a lower turnout, especially at Thanesar as it is an urban seat and turnout generally remains lower in urban areas. Despite a lot of efforts by workers, voters were not much enthusiastic about voting.”

Varun Chaudhry stated, “The voting percentage in rural areas remains on the higher side compared to urban segments. Party workers also worked hard to motivate voters to exercise their franchise.”

“A lack of enthusiasm was observed among the voters this year, especially in urban areas. There was a disinterest among people. The extreme hot weather conditions also played a role,” said Kushal Pal, a political analyst.