Bengaluru civic polls: New areas show the zeal, old ones turn their back on polls

BENGALURU: Residents of sprawling neighbourhoods on the outskirts of the city that are dogged by lack of infrastructure were more keen on voting in the BBMP polls unlike their counterparts in interior Bengaluru, polling statistics reveal.
An analysis of the constituency-wise turnout obtained from the state election commission shows that most assembly segments in outer Bengaluru -Yeshwantpur (54.98%), Yelahanka (52.62%), Dasarahalli (52.36%), Byatarayanapura (50.67%), Padmanabanagar (51.72%), Mahadevapura (50.89%) and Rajarajeshwarinagar (50.17%) -fared better than the 49% voter turnout recorded by the entire city.Only Bommanahalli assembly segment recorded lower voter turnout at 41.15%.
Experts say the trend is an indication of how neglected these areas are and how the residents here are desperately exercising their franchise to bring about a change.
On the other hand, voter apathy was conspicuous in areas falling inside the Outer Ring Road .The turnouts in the assembly segments of Basavanagudi (43%), Basavanagudi (43.3%), Sarvagananagar (44.78%), Shivajinagar (44.94%), CV Raman Nagar (45.21%), BTM Layout (46.39%) and Jayanagar (47.13%) were way below the city's average. Rajajinagar (51.96%) and Chamarajapet (52.37%) were the only exceptions.
Speaking to TOI, state election commissioner PN Srinivasachary , said areas like Shivajinagar known for better voter turnout."Many wards in the core areas of Bengaluru have done poorly . There could be several reasons like names missing, names being deleted and rain. But one can't ignore voter apathy . People could be having problems with the functioning of the corporator or BBMP but it is through democratic processes like the elections that such things can be changed," he said.
A recently published survey by B.PAC and Daksh on public perception of BBMP revealed that people of outer Bengaluru areas hardly feel the presence of the civic body due to non-performing corporators. The survey also revealed that people wanted better candidates to change their fortunes. On the other hand, residents in the south zone and other core areas of Bengaluru were positive about various services delivered by the civic body.