Dakshina Kannada leads again

April 19, 2014 04:56 am | Updated November 27, 2021 06:54 pm IST - MANGALORE:

Dakshina Kannada, which registered the highest polling percentage among the 28 Lok Sabha constituencies in the State on Thursday, has maintained a good track record from the very first general election when it comes to voter turnout.

An analysis of the voting pattern shows that the turnout here has always been better than the State and national average.

Incidentally, Thursday’s turnout of 77.185 per cent is the highest recorded in the constituency, which was known as South Canara South in the first general election and as Mangalore till 2008. Prior to 2008, the constituency included parts of Kodagu district and some parts of Dakshina Kannada were in the Udupi constituency. The lowest polling percentage recorded in the constituency is 57.43, in the second Lok Sabha elections in 1957.

Jayaraj Amin, political science professor at Mangalore University, said factors such as the newfound positive outlook of the youth towards politics and greater interaction of political party agents during campaign contributed to the impressive voter turnout this time.

Prof. Amin and Rolphie Mascarenhas, retired head of the Department of Political Science in St. Aloysius College, think that Narendra Modi factor could have influenced voters — both opposed to and supporting the Gujarat Chief Minister, to exercise their franchise.

Prof. Mascarenhas said “enlightenment” of voters, greater awareness, and literacy had led to better turnout over the years. He said his daughter, a clinical embryologist in Mumbai, and his son, a chartered accountant in Bangalore, came down to Mangalore only to vote. Those who do not vote had no moral right to criticise the government, he said.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.