It remains to be seen which party would gain from the heavy voter turnout for polling in the lok Sabha elections 2014 on Wednesday. Though the result will be known on May 16, it is evident that the citizens have used the EVM this time to bring about a change.
This year, the polling in mountainous regions was less compared to polling in the plains. Interestingly, no polling agents were present in booths in mountainous regions barring the polling agents of the BJP and Congress. In the mountainous region of Garhwal, the Tehri district witnessed the least polling with about 50 per cent voter turnout. The district of Uttarkashi saw 62 per cent voting, Rudraprayag 58 per cent Pauri and Chamoli 55 per cent each. In the mountainous region of Kumaon, the turnout in Bageshwar district was 56 per cent, 53 per cent each in Almora and Champawat districts, 63 per cent in Nainital district and 62 per cent in Pithoragarh district. The maximum 76 per cent voting was in Haridwar followed by 62 per cent in Dehradun. In Udham Singh Nagar the voter turnout was 72 per cent.
The overall poll percentage was at 62 per cent whereas this figure was 48.74 per cent in the 2004 parliamentary polls and 53.25 per cent in the 2009 parliamentary polls. The record turnout is making leaders and party workers consider all possible factors related to the turnout. In Haridwar and Udham Singh Nagar districts, the Congress workers are happy due to large number of Muslim and Dalit population there. In Haridwar parliamentary constituency, where Chief Minister Harish Rawat’s wife Renuka Rawat was contesting, Congress is confident of trouncing former Chief Minister and BJP candidate Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’.
large voter turnout has also raised expectations of sitting Congress MP from Nainital seat, KC Singh ‘Baba’ of trouncing his BJP rival and former chief minister Bhagat Singh Koshyari as the Congress candidate is said to wield influence over Terai voters.
However, the record turnout clearly shows that an undercurrent was working in the state and an ‘’election wave’’ had encouraged the voters to come out and exercise their franchise.