Lok Sabha Polls: Bengaluru to vote on April 26, a Friday, amid concerns over voter turnout

India's tech capital, Bengaluru, will head to the polling booths for the Lok Sabha elections on April 26 (Friday), the Election Commission of India announced on March 16. The elections for 28 Lok Sabha seats in Karnataka will be held in two phases, with South Karnataka voting on April 26 and North Karnataka on May 7. Results will be announced on June 4.

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However, there are concerns over voter turnout in Bengaluru due to the election day falling on a Friday. Post Covid-19, a majority of office-goers, especially techies, work from the office on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays, and many leave Bengaluru on Fridays to travel to their native places or weekend getaways.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, Bengaluru witnessed a turnout of 54.1 percent, even lower than the 56 percent recorded in 2014.

According to ECI records, Bengaluru North Lok Sabha segment has the highest number of electors in the state, with 31.74 lakh, followed by 27.63 lakh in Bengaluru Rural, 23.98 lakh in Bengaluru Central, and 23.17 lakh in Bengaluru South.

The Lok Sabha elections come at a time when Bengaluru is facing an acute water crises, with gated communities rationing water to residents. There is online outrage due to the limited availability of water, although the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board maintains that the shortage is only in peripheral areas lacking piped water supply.

Also read: First floods, now dry days: Decoding tech hub Bengaluru’s water woes

"Democracy is not a spectator sport. People must exercise their vote. It's a hard-fought right that we have, and they must respect that. It's time for all citizens to stop being cynical and make every voice count," said Revathy Ashok, CEO of the Bangalore Political Action Committee (B.PAC).

"Friday being voting day is a concern; it should have been midweek because if it is Friday, most people club it with Saturday and Sunday and head out of the city ," she said. Voter registration is now simple and can be done completely online . "All you have to do is upload your documents, and will be registered. It's a simple process so I urge all those haven't registered yet, to do so," she explained.

MG Devasahayam, a retired IAS Officer and coordinator of Citizens Commission on Elections, an NGO, told Moneycontrol: "Declaring a holiday on poll day appears to not be effective. If the voting day falls on a Friday, people, especially those in the private sector, may choose to skip voting and instead go on holiday. Ideally, the ECI should instruct private sector companies to ensure that employees report to duty after voting. It is easy to verify whether someone has voted by checking for an inked finger. Such steps have become necessary considering that most youngsters are not exercising their democratic rights."

B.PAC has been conducting awareness campaigns at tech campuses. "We've already created an awareness campaign in Electronics City and we have also visited Outer Ring Road Companies Association (ORRCA) since there are several tech companies on Outer Ring Road. We are hoping this time that the voter turnout percentage will be better, but in larger cities, the problem is that the disconnect between the citizen and the elected leader is very high. If people know the elected leader personally, they will feel the need to go out and vote," said Ashok.

Bengalureans are known for their sense of civic activism, often volunteering for signature campaigns or street protests to advocate for causes ranging from deficient infrastructure to environmental issues. Yet, when it comes to turning out on polling day to cast their votes, they appear curiously apathetic.

Multiple factors, aside from urban apathy, contribute to the low turnout, including errors in the voters’ list, residents who may have relocated within the city, a significant floating population preferring to vote in their hometowns, and deceased voters' names not being removed from the electoral rolls.

Candidates in Bengaluru

While BJP has announced all candidates in Bengaluru, Congress is yet to announce candidates for Bengaluru South, Central, and North segments. Congress has named DK Suresh for Bengaluru Rural.

In Bengaluru, BJP retained two of its sitting MPs: Tejasvi Surya (Bengaluru South) and PC Mohan (Bengaluru Central). However, the party denied a ticket to sitting MP DV Sadananda Gowda in Bengaluru North.

Dr. CN Manjunath, former director of the Jayadeva Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences and Research, is BJP's candidate from Bengaluru Rural. He will face Suresh, the lone Congress MP from Karnataka who won the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. Suresh, a third-time MP, is the brother of Deputy CM and Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee president DK Shivakumar.

In Bengaluru South, Sowmya Reddy, former Jayanagar MLA and daughter of Karnataka Transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy, is a frontrunner for a Congress party ticket. Sowmya Reddy lost the 2023 assembly polls by a narrow margin of 16 votes. Ramalinga Reddy had alleged that BJP leaders, including Surya, influenced officials after his daughter, Sowmya, was initially declared the winner of the seat by the Election Commission of India.

For Bengaluru North, Congress party is considering State Institute for the Transformation of Karnataka (SITK) vice-chairperson M V Rajeev Gowda and Govindraj Nagar MLA Priya Krishna. In Bengaluru Central, AICC secretary Mansoor Ali Khan and Karnataka Youth Congress president Mohammed Haris Nalapad are frontrunners.

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