Lok Sabha elections: Why Mumbai does not turn up to vote

Polling has concluded for the fifth phase of Lok Sabha elections. Electors exercised their franchise in 49 constituencies across six states and two Union Territories on Monday (20 May).

Maharashtra – where 13 Lok Sabha constituencies, including all six in Mumbai, went to polls – recorded the lowest voter turnout at 49.04 per cent, according to the Election Commission’s Voter Turnout App’s provisional data.

In fact, none of the six Lok Sabha seats in Mumbai have crossed the 50 per cent voter turnout mark, as per the poll body.

Let’s take a closer look.

Mumbai’s poor voter turnout

Mumbai North reported a voter turnout of 46.91 per cent, while Mumbai North Central saw an estimated turnout of 47.46 per cent.

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In Mumbai North East seat, 48.67 per cent of electors turned up. Mumbai North West witnessed an elector turnout of 49.79 per cent.

Provisional voter turnout in Mumbai South was 44.63 per cent and Mumbai South Central was 48.80 per cent, as per the ECI’s Voter Turnout App.

Over 99 lakh electors were eligible to cast their votes in Mumbai to seal the fate of 116 candidates in the fray.

The voter turnout in Mumbai has generally remained poor. It had declined to an all-time low of 41.2 per cent in the 1991 Lok Sabha polls.

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Since then, it has crossed the halfway mark only thrice, as per a Times of India (TOI) report. This happened during the last Lok Sabha elections.

In the 2019 polls which were held after the Pulwama attack, Mumbai recorded its highest voter turnout in three decades at 55.4 per cent, the report added.

Why turnout remains low in Mumbai

Urban apathy is one of the factors that affect voter turnout in India’s financial capital.

In fact, on the eve of the fifth phase of polling, the Election Commission had highlighted the apathy of voters in the past in Mumbai, Thane and Lucknow and urged them to turn out in higher numbers on Monday.

Noting that these cities have “suffered” from urban apathy, the poll body said, “The Commission specially calls upon these city dwellers to erase the stigma by turning out in higher numbers,” reported The New Indian Express (TNIE).

“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.

“The complexity of urban issues can make residents feel overwhelmed and helpless. Additionally, anonymity and disconnection are widespread in large cities, leaving individuals with a lack of belonging,” he noted in his piece.

Excess heat could have also deterred people to step out from voting. Mumbai recorded a temperature of 34 degrees Celsius on Monday. However, while mercury was high, there was no heatwave in Maharashtra’s capital.

In Mumbai city and Kalyan in Thane district, voters also complained of a lack of basic amenities, as per a Hindustan Times (HT) report.

“At the polling booths in MD college, Veterinary College in Parel, there were no basic amenities like fans, drinking water and wheelchair. When asked by the contractor who had shouldered the responsibility, he was evasive. Many voters returned home without voting,” Parag Chavan, a former Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) corporator from Parel, was quoted as saying by the newspaper.

Speaking to reporters, Deepak Parekh, former chairman of HDFC Life Insurance, said he knows people who waited for one hour to cast their vote but returned due to the heat.

As voters were not allowed to enter the premises with mobile phones, it led to crowding at St Paul School polling booths as they had to give their phones to their relatives who stood outside and then cast their ballots in turn. “Many left without voting, while others had to go back to keep their belongings and mobiles home. On other polling stations, mobiles were allowed after switching them off,” a voter told HT.

As per a PTI report, Maharashtra deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis urged the EC to examine complaints about the slow pace of voting in Mumbai.

Shiv Sena (UBT) leader and former minister Aditya Thackeray took to X to request the poll body to provide basic facilities at polling stations to ensure voting “without hassle”. Later in the evening, he criticised the EC for lack of facilities at polling booths.

To the @ECISVEEP , absolute pathetic management.
An agency that boasts about One Nation, One Poll, cannot conduct an election process that is smooth in even 1 constituency, forget the entire city.

Citizens have complained about heat, suffocation in booths, possibly purposeful…

— Aaditya Thackeray (@AUThackeray) May 20, 2024

Voter turnout in other metro cities 

It’s not just Mumbai where voter turnout was poor.

Bengaluru, which went to polling on 26 April, recorded a turnout of 54.76 per cent.

Lucknow saw an estimated voter turnout of 52.03 per cent on Monday, as per the EC’s data.

Chennai’s three parliamentary constituencies registered an overall turnout of 55.94 per cent.

A voter turnout of 53.54 per cent was witnessed in Pune, while Hyderabad recorded a dismal turnout of 45.07 per cent.

Delhi, which will vote on 25 May, had reported a voter turnout of 56.87 per cent turnout in the last Lok Sabha election. It remains to be seen if the residents in the National Capital will turn up in large numbers or not this time.

With inputs from agencies