Lok Sabha elections 2019: Countryside pips cities, towns in voting

Gujarat

created a record when the state registered a historic 64.11%

voter turnout

in the 2019

Lok Sabha

polling held on Tuesday.


Here, the biggest push seems to have come from the rural Gujarat that has 94 rural assembly segments which recorded a notable 1.1% rise in voting.

It need mention that there are 182 assembly segments which comprise 26 LS seats. Of these, 94 are classified as rural and 44 each as urban and rurban.

This election, 32 lakh more voters have exercised their franchise as compared to 2014 out of which a sizeable 18 lakh votes have been cast in the rural segments. This time, 1.49 crore rural population has voted compared to 1.31 crore last general polls.

Analysis of the Lok Sabha 2019 voting data reveals that of the five segments that recorded highest rise in voting, three are rural while two are urban.

Rural Choryasi segment in Navsari seat recorded highest 71,243 more votes polled than previous election. Another segment Kamrej in Bardoli seat saw 56,938 more votes polled than 2014 election.

In urban and rurban segments, the voting has increased only marginally by 0.10% and 0.2% only. On the 44 rurban seats, voting percentage rose from 64.39% to 64.59%. In absolute numbers, eight lakh more rurban voters exercised their franchise.

The lowest rise in the voting percentage was recorded in 44 urban segments polling increased from 63.45% in 2014 to 63.55% in 2019, a growth of only 6.36 lakh voters.

Olpad was the urban segment which recorded the highest 58,941 growth in votes polled as compared to 2014. In Ahmedabad (east) Vatva polled 43,244 more votes.

The chief electoral officer, Gujarat had recorded 4.51 crore voters registering a rise of 50 lakh voters in 2019 general polls.

Nishit Vyas, Congress general secretary said, "Educated and the upper middle-class were the committed voters of the BJP. But after chosing BJP in 2014, they realized that their financial condition had deteriorated because of demonetization and GST. Hence they stayed away from voting because they never wanted to vote for the Congress. They are committed voters and hence they stayed indoor instead of coming out to vote. In the rural areas, farmers who were not happy with the BJP came out and voted in large number against the party.”

"The villagers are getting jobs and facilities and hence they are coming out to vote for the BJP. The farmer distress was not visible as the BJP has already deposited Rs 13,000 in accounts of people in drought-hit area and another Rs 6,000 to the farmers as central government subsidy," said BJP spokesperson Bharat Pandya.