Rural Kalka outvotes urban Panchkula again, margin thins

PANCHKULA: Although Panchkula constituency recorded a better voting percentage than the previous Assembly elections this time, still, voting in Kalka was much higher than Panchkula. While the total voting percentage in Panchkula remained at 65.7% on Wednesday, Kalka recorded an appreciable figure of 79.3%.
It is the consecutive Vidhan Sabha election where Panchkula has witnessed lesser voting as compared to Kalka constituency.In 2009, only 57.47% voters had cast their vote in Panchkula and Kalka had recorded 77.1% voting.
Although the administration's efforts, supported by private organizations, did manage to pull out more voters to the polling booths, there still remains a huge difference between the voting percentage in rural and urban hub of the district.
According to political experts, the major reason behind the huge difference in both the constituencies is the difference in the mindset of residents of both areas. A person residing in the city, having good access to all the basic amenities would not bother much about who is forming the government. At the same time, a resident from a rural area would take it as an opportunity to change things.
"This holds true for the whole country. In Kalka, where there is a lot of scope for development, but the rate of development is not at par with the city, people need change and reach the polling booths. People who are residing in Panchkula constituency have easy access to luxuries and the governing body," stated Prof Bhupinder Brar, a political expert and former dean, university instructions, of Panjab University.
Manjit Singh, political activist and professor of sociology at PU, says that voters from posh areas mainly consist of traders and industrialists, who might find it embarrassing to stand in queues and wait to cast their votes. "However, rural people want a candidate to know that they have voted for him so that they can get their work done," he added.
Deputy commissioner S S Phulia said he had tried his best to woo people from both the areas to come out and vote. "Our campaign did motivate people and, fortunately, the voting percentage has increased in Panchkula. Hopefully, it would increase even more next time," he stated.