Polling for Maharashtra Assembly elections is over. Come Saturday (November 23), we will have an idea of which alliance – Mahayuti or Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) – will form the next government in the state.
Maharashtra recorded a voter turnout of 58.41 per cent according to the Election Commission’s Voter Turnout App’s provisional data at 8 pm. Mumbai, which is notorious for its indifference to voting, saw a dismal turnout again.
In the previous two Assembly polls, the voter turnout barely crossed the 50 per cent mark in Maharashtra’s capital. In the 2019 elections, Mumbai reported a voter turnout of 50.67 per cent, a marginal dip from 51.21 per cent in 2014.
But why does ‘Maximum City’ not go out to vote? Let’s take a look.
Mumbai voter turnout in 2024
About 1.02 crore voters were eligible to exercise their franchise in Mumbai. Of these 54.67 lakh are males, 47.62 lakh are females and 1,082 transgender voters.
Both districts of Mumbai reported poor turnouts.
While the voter turnout in Mumbai City was at 49.07 per cent, it was 51.92 per cent in Mumbai Suburban, as per the ECI data at 8 pm.
In Mumbai City, Colaba and Mumbadevi Assembly constituencies saw the worst turnout at 41.64 per cent and 46.10 per cent, respectively.
In Mumbai Suburban, Chandivali and Versova reported the lowest voter turnout of 47.05 per cent and 47.45 per cent, respectively. Mankhurd Shivaji Nagar had a turnout of 47.46 per cent, the third poorest in the district.
During the
Lok Sabha polls earlier this year, urban apathy in Mumbai was a talking point as it reported 52.4 per cent voter turnout, a three per cent decline from 55.4 per cent in the 2019 elections.
Notably, the previous Lok Sabha poll turnout was the city’s best, followed by this year’s.
Efforts to encourage voting in Mumbai
Acknowledging Mumbai’s poor voter turnout, the EC took several measures to bring electors to polling booths.
The Mumbai district election officer urged establishments, businesses and other employers falling within the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) limits to offer paid leaves to their employees on Wednesday (November 20) for exercising their franchise, as per a Mint report.
Several facilities such as drinking water, seating arrangements for people in queues, waiting rooms, fans, toilets, and wheelchairs were provided at polling stations.
During the Lok Sabha elections earlier in the year, voters had complained of a lack of basic amenities at some booths.
The poll body also organised voter awareness campaigns such as ‘Know Your Polling Station’ to apprise people of their polling booths.
The EC appointed the municipal commissioner as the District Election Officer for both Mumbai districts for the first time. Previously, this was done by collectors of Mumbai City and Mumbai Suburban separately.
The BMC officials were in charge of monitoring the voter turnout in these polls, which was done by the district administration in the past elections, Mint reported.
Over 50 restaurants across Mumbai announced a 20 per cent ‘Democracy Discount’ for voters, which they can avail on their total dine-in bill at participating restaurants on November 20 and 21, as per Indian Express.
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Why is Mumbai disinterested in voting?
Mumbai’s unenthusiasm for voting is not new.
Before 2014, the city’s turnout hardly crossed the 50 per cent mark. In the 1999 Assembly polls, Mumbai’s voter turnout was at 44.9 per cent. This rose to 48.4 per cent in 2004. The turnout dropped to 46.1 per cent in 2009, before jumping to 51.21 per cent in the 2014 polls, as per the Mint report.
While announcing the poll dates for Maharashtra and Jharkhand Assembly elections in October, Chief Electoral Commissioner (CEC) Rajiv Kumar had blamed ‘urban apathy’ for voters’ disinterest, leading to a low turnout. Flagging the poor turnout in Mumbai and Pune, he said the poll body had set the polling days in the middle of the week, hoping it would ensure higher voter participation.
Kumar said ‘urban and youth apathy’ was a major worry for the election commission.
It is not only affluent areas of Mumbai like Colaba and Versova that witness urban apathy. Slum pockets – Mankhurd and Dharavi – also see a disappointment among voters.
In posh neighbourhoods, the current wedding season and unfavourable candidates have led to some electors staying away from polling booths.
Veena Bakshi, a filmmaker and Versova resident, told Times of India (TOI), “The Election Commission knows that this country plans events based on panchangs, and people are bound to have family events. Dates could be set taking certain things into consideration. But apart from that, there is apathy about issues. There is also a lack of good candidates.”
For Mankhurd and Dharavi, places with a stark difference in income levels from Colaba and Versova, the issues are different for voters. They cite a lack of good governance for their disillusionment with polling.
Savitra, a homemaker in her 40s in Annabhau Sathe Nagar, told TOI, “Basic food items are expensive. Politicians visit during elections, ask for votes, but what’s the point? No one comes when there are no votes to exchange.”
Some slum residents pointed out that daily-wage earners cannot afford to wait for long in queues to vote. The issue of missing names in voter lists is also a problem, the newspaper reported.
Urban apathy is not limited to Mumbai as was visible in cities like Bengaluru and Lucknow during the Lok Sabha polls.
“Urban apathy is not a result of individuals’ subjectivity, but a manifestation of the depoliticised environment and the belief that ‘nothing will change’. As a result, people lack interest in urban issues and problems, such as poverty, crime, environment degradation, and politics, which affects the cities and its residents. This phenomenon is also a reflection of the large scale informalisation of the major sectors that provide employment in the cities, making it a daunting task for individuals to survive and obtain bare minimum,” Tikender Singh Panwar, a former deputy mayor of Shimla, wrote in an Opinion piece for Deccan Herald in April last year.
With inputs from agencies