Urban apathy to fore in Shimla, Solan

Shimla, June 3

Following yet another less than enthusiastic turnout by the urban voters, the Shimla Assembly constituency recorded a voting percentage of merely 63.96 per cent, the second lowest in the 17 Assembly constituencies. The lowest polling has been recorded in the Kasumpti Assembly constituency at 63.23 per cent.

The Shimla Assembly constituency, the only constituency in the state with no rural area, has a history of low turnout. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Shimla recorded a voter turnout of 64.1 per cent. And then in the 2022 Vidhan Sabha elections, the percentage slipped down further to 63.48 per cent.

Interestingly, the voting percentage in this constituency remains low regardless of which party is in power, and who’s the incumbent MLA. In the 2019 poll, BJP’s Suresh Bhardwaj was the sitting MLA, while this time it’s Harish Janartha of the Congress. The voting percentage on both occasions is almost the same.

The Solan Assembly constituency, which has a substantial number of urban voters, registered a voting percentage of 68.65, down from 70.47 in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Also, it’s the second lowest among five Assembly constituencies in district Solan.

Meanwhile, the Kasumpti Assembly constituency, which has its urban areas in the Shimla Municipal Corporation, has recoded the lowest voting percentage in the Shimla Parliamentary constituency, with just 63.37 voters casting their vote. Its voting percentage is among the lowest recorded across all 68 Assembly constituencies.

Compared to the 2019 poll, the figure has dropped around 3 per cent from 66.41 per cent. “The voting percentage in the urban areas remains lower than the rural areas most of the time,” said an official from the Election Department. — TNS

At 63.23%, lowest voting in Kasumpti

• The Shimla Assembly constituency saw 63.96% turnout, the second lowest in the 17 Assembly constituencies.
• The Kasumpti constituency witnessed lowest polling at 63.23% among all 68 Assembly constituencies.