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Maha polls: Thane turnout dips
A total of 47.91% voters turned out to exercise their right in Thane district on Monday, a dip from the 50.16% in the 2014 state Assembly elections, data released
A total of 47.91% voters turned out to exercise their right in Thane district on Monday, a dip from the 50.16% in the 2014 state Assembly elections, data released by the collector’s office revealed. Experts said the low turnout will most likely not spring any surprises in the results, with the saffron alliance expected to maintain its hold over most of the 18 constituencies.In the Lok Sabha elections held earlier this year, the voting percentage was around 49%.
An officer from the Thane unit of the election commission (EC) said, “The highest turnout was in rural areas of Shahpur (64.80%), followed by Bhiwandi rural (59.60%), Murbad (58.36%) and Thane city (52.47%). The lowest turnout was recorded from Dombivli (40%), followed by Kalyan West (41.74%), Airoli (42.51%), Ambernath (42.32%) and Ovala Majiwada (42.97%) constituencies.”
Thane collector Rajesh Navrekar claimed that a large migratory population in the district is the primary reason for the lower turnout. “The district has a large floating population, especially consisting of Mathadi and loom workers. Some names are not deleted from the list although people have relocated. Though the EC allows us to delete migratory voters, we have not deleted anyone this time owing to insufficient time.”
The low turnout in Dombivli, a city of educated and working-class people, was a surprise this time. Some societies had decided to boycott the elections, which affected the turnout. “We had reached out to many societies which had decided to boycott elections and explained to them that boycotting is not the solution. Instead, they should vote and express their displeasure,” said Narvekar.
Experts said the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-Shiv Sena alliance, which rules 14 of the 18 Assembly constituencies in the district, will manage to keep its hold on most of them, thanks to the low turnout. Milind Ballal, editor of local daily in Thane, said, “The large number of defections, anticipated results, long weekend and disgruntled voters have affected the turnout. The low turnout surely indicates there will not be any surprises. Change can be expected only when large number of people cast their votes. In the four constituencies in Thane, we can expect a repeat of 2014 and the same can be said for other parts of the district.”
Ballal said the district can experience some surprise in Kalyan West constituency as rebel candidate Narendra Pawar and Sena candidate Vishwanath Bhoir are fighting neck-and-neck. Moreover, Raju Patil, the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena candidate from Kalyan rural might also give a tough fight to Ramesh Mhatre from Sena. “However, the low voter turnout in these areas does not keep much scope for a change. Dombivli, too, could have voted in large numbers as people were unhappy with the BJP MLA, and MNS’s Mandar Shrikant Halbe had a good chance of winning,” said Ballal.
