The sun’s rays had begun peaking at 10 am and yet that did not deter 92-year-old Rukmini Paati (grandmother in Tamil) from voting for the 100th time (including bye-elections) in Bengaluru on May 10. She held her inked finger up with glee and said she wanted to vote for a “hunger-free” India.
Meanwhile, Infosys founder NR Narayan Murthy had a message for youngsters. She told News18, “If the youngsters do not come out and vote, they have no right to criticise the government and ask for change.”
Another, Sundar Raman, an 86-year-old former government employee, said she has travelled 23 km from her new home to cast vote in Banaswadi so that “my children who live in this place get a good MLA and better facilities.” Raman resides in south Bengaluru’s Jayanagar.
But did Bengaluru take a cue from Rukmini, Murthy or Raman to come out and vote for change? Clearly, no.
This time, too, the silicon capital of India was a let-down as it recorded the lowest turnout of 52% amongst the 31 districts, dismal than the previous 2018 (57%) and 2013 (62%). The city roads, which have earned quite a reputation for traffic jams, remained relatively empty with half of Bengaluru, which, according to the last count, had over 97.1 lakh voters, deciding not to visit the polling stations.
Even though the Election Commission of India (ECI) had set a target of 65% voter turnout in Bengaluru, and around 75% for the rest of the state, the IT city was nowhere close.
Bengaluru has 28 assembly segments.
The rest of Karnataka did act responsibly and vote as it broke its previous record of 72.81%, its best polling turnout percentage beating 2018’s 72.13%.
“This urban voter apathy has not only hurt the image of the city but also makes it clear that people in Bengaluru are only social media warriors. When it comes to really voting for change, they just do not bother. Do they want voting to be done via social media as well? How many drives were conducted by RWAs and citizen organisations, yet this kind of lackadaisical response is frustrating,” said Ravi Sabapathy, a resident of CV Raman Nagar, which saw polling of just 47.43%, according to the EC.
The Election Commission officials, who also conducted drives, hoped to improve Bengaluru’s turnout to 65-70% this time through their walkathons, street plays, and RWA campaigns.
“That did seem to deter the city’s attitude towards enjoying a paid holiday,” said Pratima V, a resident of Shantinagar, which saw a polling percentage of 54.33%.
Another resident from Chamarajpet found that the name of their entire family was missing from the rolls.
“My daughter Neelima is a first-time voter, and I had got her all excited and pumped up to exercise her vote to build a better future. We reached our polling station and we were surprised that our names were not there. She was so disappointed. This has happened to many, and then they lose their steam to vote,” said Shreekanth Narasimha.
Amid the apathy, there was also a contrasting picture. Twins Deeksha and Disha reached their polling booth in Horamavu to cast their vote just before they were to attend the marriage function of their uncle.
“Our uncle told us that the best gift for him would be showing our inked finger. We thought about it. Our house was filled with water in October last year. We went on Facebook and put videos of how we were affected. My uncle said if we want to bring a change, then this was the time. Vote, and get a good administrator who will hear our problems. So here we are,” said the identical twins wearing matching purple-coloured dresses.
So, what did Bengaluru vote for? Several residents that News18 spoke to said they were hoping that they would get better roads, a regular water supply, and improved public transport such as buses and Metros to help ease travel.
“My vote is not for my MLA as he has been unavailable to our repeated requests to clean drains and remove the garbage in the area. But I have voted for the party that I hope will come to power and release funds for our area’s development,” said Likith Rao from Basavangudi.
The voter turnout was the highest in Yeshwanthpur, with a recorded percentage of 63.69%, followed by Yelahanka at 62.68%, Anekal at 61.85%, Chickpet at 58.09%, and Jayanagar at 58%. CV Raman Nagar found itself at the bottom of the table at 47.43% followed by BTM Layout at 49.15%, Bommanahalli at 49.5%, Dasarahalli at 50.16%, and Bengaluru South at 51.6%.
Let’s not blame it entirely on the voters as well, said an electoral officer. “There were several duplications of names, non-deletion of names, and also names of people who had passed away. We are analysing the data,” the official said seeking anonymity.
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