Bangalore isn’t willing

Bangalore isn’t willing
Sandeep ShastriPosted online: Tuesday, May 13, 2008 at 0013 hrs Print EmailThis assembly poll saw a dramatic increase in the number of seats allotted to Bangalore city. But it was the same political apathy

Sandeep Shastri
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Bangalore city has once again recorded the lowest voter turnout among all the districts that went to the polls in the first phase of the elections in Karnataka. This is a continuation of a trend witnessed over the last three decades. What accounts for the apparent disinterest of urban voters towards discharging their responsibilities as citizens?

At the outset, two caveats need to be acknowledged. One, urban areas are witness to serious errors of omission, and commission, in the voters’ list. This fact was clearly on display on May 10, the day Bangalore city voted. In polling stations across the city, citizens were frustrated by the fact that their names were missing from the electoral rolls. In some cases, in spite of their possessing valid voter ID cards, their names were not found in the electoral rolls. This contributed to lower voter turnout in the city.

Officers of the Election Commission have reacted to such reports by saying that in many of the cases, the voters themselves are to blame. The EC had displayed the list of voters much before the polling date and had given several opportunities to potential voters to bring to its attention any anomalies in the list. Officials alleged that many of those who were not able to vote made no efforts prior to the polling date to verify whether their names actually figured in the voters lists.

The second caveat also merits serious attention. Many urban voters do not turn up at the polling booth as a symbol of protest against the way the political/electoral system functions. They are disappointed with the candidates, disenchanted with the way the process operates and disillusioned with the political parties. Their non-voting is a way of registering their dissent. More often than not, urban voters are likely to be more cynical of the electoral process and the ‘potential power’ of their vote to usher in change. The May 10 poll appears to be no exception.

But while errors in the voters’ list are an important issue and staying away from voting as a sign of protest cannot be discounted as a crucial factor, this alarming trend merits deeper analysis. A contradiction stares us in the face. At one level, delimitation has responded to the urbanisation that Karnataka has witnessed over the years. The seats allotted to Bangalore city have risen from 16 to 28. The city now accounts for just over 12 per cent of the state legislature. But the increase in the seats has not resulted in a corresponding rise in the enthusiasm of the urban middle class voters.

What about all those Bangaloreans whose names were very much on the voters’ list but who did not turn up at the polling booths? It appears to be a cost-benefit analysis. The educated middle class voters in Bangalore city seem disinclined to line up at the polling booth fundamentally because they are convinced that they can get their problems resolved without assistance of their elected representatives. They have the resources — financial and in terms of networks — to get their problems resolved. They barely need to know, much less meet, their elected representative.

Further, globalisation and privatisation have resulted in important decisions that involve the lives of the common people being influenced not by the state but by private players and the market. This has contributed to the diminishing importance of ‘government’ in the lives of urban Bangaloreans. So why vote?

Having said that, however, the cynicism among urban voters about the electoral/political process often appears to be a mask to legitimise their disinterest about and apathy towards politics. While it is fashionable to express one’s unequivocal faith in democracy, politics is too messy for the middle classes to dirty their hands with.

It must also be conceded that political parties, across the spectrum, have also failed to offer the ticket to individuals who can inspire middle class voters to turn up at the polling booth in larger numbers. With the sharp rise in the number of seats in Bangalore this time, the mainstream political parties were struggling to find suitable candidates for many seats. ‘Winnability’ assumed a whole new meaning with real estate dons and individuals with dubious track records who brought in the money bags, managing to clinch the party nominations. Beyond doubt, parties need to share a part of the blame for not being able to either capture the imagination or represent the aspirations of the urban middle class voters.

The writer is a political analyst based in Bangalore