Long weekend may affect voter turnout in city

Darshan Devaiah B P, DHNS, Bengaluru,

Mar 12 2019, 01:00 ist
updated: Mar 12 2019, 01:38 ist

Bengaluru, the tech city, will hold the Lok Sabha elections on April 18. The polling date, however, is wedged between holidays -- Mahaveer Jayanti on April 17 and Good Friday on April 19. It is a long weekend too.

Despite the election commission’s awareness campaigns to bring more voters to polling booths, the city is known for its poor voter turnout during elections.

In the 2018 assembly election, only 54.76% of residents voted in the city.

Now, the election commission will be creating awareness among people, so that the residents avoid going away on long picnics, therefore ensuring they do not skip the voting.

“The whole country is going to an election in seven phases and the dates have been fixed accordingly. To improve voter turnout, we will be conducting various awareness programmes and campaigns,” BBMP commissioner N Manjunath Prasad, the district election officer (DEO) told DH.

“We have planned radio talk shows, TV shows and street plays to create awareness including a demonstration on voting to encourage the public to participate in the electoral process,” he added.

Veenapani, member of the Voters Forum said: “During these dates, there are school holidays. There is a chance of people planning picnics. This will affect the voter turnout in the city.”

88,81,066 voters in city

There are 88,81,066 voters in Bengaluru, said Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) Commissioner, N Manjunath Prasad.

The commissioner, who is also the district election officer (DEO), told reporters that out of the total voters in the city, 46,32,900 are male and 42,48,166 are female.

Three Lok Sabha constituencies - Bengaluru North, Bengaluru Central, and Bengaluru South comes under the ambit of the DEO. “The polling in the three constituencies will be held on April 18. The residents can enroll themselves till March 16,” Prasad added.

“Citizens can call toll-free number ‘1959’ regarding any issue relating to the election,” he added.

The city police will monitor the law and order. “We have taken action against 400 rowdy sheeters so far. Licensed firearms should be deposited at the police stations soon. We had registered 300 cases in the last election and 299 cases have been disposed of,” said T Suneel Kumar, city police commissioner.