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Sunday, cricket and frequent polls cited for low turnout

rediff.com Delhi bureau

India went to the polls today in the first phase of the general election to the thirteenth Lok Sabha.

One hundred and forty-five seats were at stake across 16 states and 160 million voters exercised their franchise.

The turnout in North India was slightly lower than in the South. The state of Jammu and Kashmir recorded a sharp divide with Ladakh registering 70 per cent turnout while Srinagar saw a turnout of just 15 per cent, one of the lowest ever in India.

The present general election is being held barely 20 months after the last one. A senior Congress politician agreed that the people are tired of constant elections, which probably explains the lower turnout.

As is usual, polling was dull in the morning, picking up in the afternoon. Polling was held from 0700 to 1700 IST. The last hour saw a massive turnout, pushing up the first phase average to 55 per cent.

The Singapore Challenge cricket match between India and the West Indies in Singapore was also cited by some observers as a reason for the lower turnout earlier in the day.

"In the morning, most homes are busy preparing the meals and getting ready. Being a Sunday, people also tend to start the day late, and we knew the morning turnout would be low," explained a police officer at a polling booth in South Delhi.

A booth in Chandni Chowk saw only 25 voters in the first two hours while in the last hour, more than 500 trooped in!

One factor drawing in the crowds is the novelty of the electronic voting machines being used in some constituencies, including the seven seats in Delhi. "Some people are coming in just to see and use the EVM. Second, the EVM makes voting very fast. Gone are the long queues of yesteryears. And the fact that it is all over in minutes is also drawing in people who might otherwise have been reluctant," said an official at a polling booth in the New Delhi constituency.

In Delhi, the voting pattern clearly showed the rich-poor divide. The posh areas reported an extremely low turnout as compared to the poorer areas. For instance, in upper-middle class Greater Kailash 1, South Delhi, voters came out in a trickle and by late afternoon, hardly 20 per cent polling had been recorded. "It won't go up even in the evening because many of the people here tend to go out and seem to have no time to vote," lamented an official at a polling station.

In contrast, the polling station of Jamia Islamia, in the poor, working-class area of Okhla (also in South Delhi), the turnout was higher, with people streaming in at a regular pace. "The rich people rarely vote, they only complain," fumed a Congress worker.

Both the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress claimed that the voters had cast the ballot (or pressed the button, as the case may be) in their favour, for a stable government.

BJP general secretary K N Govindacharya said that as per the information available to BJP workers, the party would sweep 100 of the 145 seats that went to the polls today, including Bellary, where Congress president Sonia Gandhi is pitted against former Delhi chief minister Sushma Swaraj of the BJP. "In Bellary, Sushma Swaraj will win by a margin of over 100,000 votes!" claimed Govindacharya.

Not surprisingly, the Congress dismissed the BJP statements and made claims of its own. "According to our information, the people have voted for the Congress since they are fed up with constant elections and want a stable government. And in Bellary, the BJP will have to eat its words soon," said spokesman Kapil Sibal.

The Congress is confident of retaining Bellary despite the BJP's aggressive campaign. "Bellary is a one-day cricket match, where the BJP scored in the initial overs, but we overwhelmed them in the slog overs," K C Kondaiah, the former MP who vacated the seat for Gandhi, is reported to have quipped.

Both the BJP and the Congress expressed satisfaction with the peaceful conduct of the polls throughout the country. "We also want to thank the people of India for exercising their democratic right and the Election Commission for the peaceful conduct of the polls," said Sibal.

With the first phase over, attention shifts to the second phase, on September 11. Also, filing of nominations for some more states will begin tomorrow. Among the bigwigs due to file their papers are Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee from Lucknow and Congress president Sonia Gandhi once again, this time in Amethi. Both constituencies are in Uttar Pradesh.

The polling today wasn't without its share of humour! Home Minister Lal Kishenchand Advani, voting in Gandhinagar, where he faces T N Seshan of the Congress, was flummoxed by the EVM. The machine lists the names of the candidates and their parties, followed by the party symbol. In front of each symbol is a red light and a blue button. The blue button has to be pressed, following which the red light comes on followed by a long beep, indicating that the vote has been cast correctly.

Advani, however, mistook the red light for a button and pressed it, to get no response. Embarrassed BJP workers and the officials inside the polling booth then quickly explained the nitty-gritty of the EVM, and only thereafter was Advani able to cast his vote.

Stranger was the case of Election Commissioner G V G Krishnamoorthy, who dutifully went to the polling booth in New Delhi only to find that his name was in the voters' list. Worried officials quickly rectified the mistake.

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