The BJP’s chief ministerial candidate, Kiran Bedi’s constituency registered the highest increase in voter turnout this election, and her rival Arvind Kejriwal’s recorded the greatest fall.
The Hindu ’s analysis of the turnout data from the Election Commission for Saturday’s election and for the December, 2013 election shows that the turnout rose by under two percentage points for the State, as a whole, to 67.14 per cent. In Krishna Nagar, Ms. Bedi’s constituency, the turnout grew by 4.19 percentage points to nearly 72 per cent. Only three constituencies — Gokalpur, Seemapuri and Rajouri Garden — had a higher turnout. On the other hand, the turnout fell by 2.65 percentage points to 64.28 per cent in New Delhi, Mr. Kejriwal’s constituency. Only 10 constituencies had lower turnouts, with Delhi Cantonment being the lowest.
Election Commission officials said there was no specific issue that caused this situation. In both constituencies, the number of electors grew almost equally, by nearly 10 percentage points, between 2013 and 2015, The Hindu found. The answer could lie in politics rather than in statistics. AAP leader Ashutosh attributed the phenomenon to voters’ attitude. “In New Delhi, the voters already knew that Mr. Kejriwal was going to win, so they might not have come out in such large numbers. In Krishna Nagar, there was voter enthusiasm to put up a tough fight,” he said.
( With inputs from Shubhomoy Sikdar )
