Low Turnout in Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad Civic Polls: Reasons and Impacts

Elections for the Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad municipal corporations, held on Thursday after a nine-year gap, did not generate the expected voter enthusiasm. Despite aggressive efforts by political parties and administrations to boost voter turnout, the recorded turnouts were lower than in previous years. The Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) turnout dropped to approximately 60% from 65.3% in 2017, while the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) turnout reached 54% compared to 55.5% nine years ago.

Many voters and political analysts attributed the drop in turnout to several factors. Changes in polling stations, missing names on electoral rolls, confusion over the 4-member ward system, last-minute shifting of loyalties by political leaders, and unexpected pre-poll alliances were cited as the primary reasons.

Political parties' city units reported that despite their teams being active in all wards, voting did not pick up as expected. A BJP politician stated that the party would investigate the reasons behind the overall drop in voting percentage. The BJP won the Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad polls with a clear majority in 2017 and is confident of repeating its performance.

On the other hand, netas of the NCP-NCP (SP) combine claimed they would win more seats this time than in the 2017 polls. An NCP politician stated, 'The municipal elections will not be a cakewalk for BJP. NCP will win significant seats in the old city and merged areas in Pune. The drop in turnout shows that people are not happy with the BJP's performance.'

The BJP and Shiv Sena fought the polls for the two civic bodies independently, while the NCP and NCP (SP) joined hands. In the MVA camp, Congress and Shiv Sena (UBT) contested together. Counting of votes is scheduled for Friday.

Chandrakant Bhujbal of the Political Research & Analysis Bureau (PRAB) highlighted that the turnout failed to improve mainly due to confusion in the electoral rolls and the Election Commission's failure to rectify errors in voters' lists. 'Voters were unhappy with the duplicate names in the electoral roll. Names of many voters were in polling stations far from their places,' he said.

Political analyst Nitin Birmal added that voters were confused by the unexpected pre-poll alliances by parties and the shifting of camps by netas in the run-up to the polls. He also noted that people residing in slum pockets generally turn up in greater numbers than voters from gated communities.

Former municipal commissioner TC Benjamin, who conducted the PMC elections in 2002, shared his experience of the recent polls. 'It took much effort to find my name after a good hour, and that too only after checking with the presiding officer. Even after so many years, certain systems that should have been in place are still lacking,' he said. 'Local elections are not taken seriously. I feel preparedness for these elections lacked adequate time. Moreover, revenue officials from the district collectorate are more adept at handling polls than PMC officials,' Benjamin added.

The low turnout was also attributed to a lack of publicity compared to Lok Sabha and assembly polls. 'After nine years, citizens seem comfortable with administrators, as ultimately it is the administrator who resolves issues. Very few turn to local corporators, and the 4-member panel system with bigger wards will only make it more difficult to reach out to corporators once elected,' Benjamin said.

A cleaner electoral roll with better voter awareness is crucial, as voter turnout has remained around 50% in all previous corporation elections, with no improvement this time. 'Moreover, the Sankranti holiday was a dampener. Elections held after a holiday close to a weekend make it too comfortable for people to go on vacations,' Benjamin noted.

Former bureaucrat Mahesh Zagade, who was also a PMC commissioner, could not vote in the local polls as he could not find his name in the list. He wrote on social media that his name appeared in the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections but not in the local poll list. 'I am a voter in BMC and my name is not there. This is a mockery of democracy,' he told TOI.

The issue of one family being assigned to two different wards also frustrated voters. Activist Vivek Velankar reported that his son and daughter-in-law, both residing in Sadashiv Peth, were assigned to different wards unnecessarily. 'Why should one family vote in different wards when most residents have no connection with representatives from other areas?' he said.

Nehrunagar resident Santosh Ukirde expressed his frustration, 'We have 12 members in our family and all had to go to different booths to cast votes, which was not the case in previous elections. My son, a central government employee posted in Indore, had travelled to Pimpri Chinchwad for the civic polls.'