Crazy Logic by Mid-Summer Day-Dreamers on Low Voter Turnout

In the pre-global warming debate era, men and women, old or young, would be on foot, cycle-or hand-rickshaw, horse- or bullock-cart, boat etc. gleefully reach remote polling stations in the scorching heat to cast their votes in booths made in thatched hutments or verandahs of ramshackle school buildings, offices or a public place without a fan or bulb.

The government employees manning the polling booth would fight the soaring temperature with a hand-held fan or newspaper. Yet, hardly any voter would complain that excessive heat and dusty wind prevented him or her from exercising their adult franchise.

The sane booths used to function in the elections held during chilly winters or heavy monsoon downpour. The climatic hardship of voters or election officials would seldom get media attention in those years.

Changed Scenario

But that is not the situation in this era of information explosion in which a mountain is made out of a molehill of any non-issue. Sometimes this is done with the specific purpose of distracting attention from the main issue—that is, the absence of a political wave rather than prevailing heat wave.

If today the electorate in any obscure jungle of Bastar district do not turn up to vote, it is understandable, but if those residing in the posh colonies of Ghaziabad or Noida, enjoying utmost coolness and transportation facilities, remain at home or decide to travel to the Himalayan foothills for three days holiday (Friday to Sunday), then it is certainly a matter of worry, especially for the ruling party.

Not to speak of the good old days of the 20th century, the five Assemblies —Assam, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Kerala--which went to poll during the peak of the second wave of Coronavirus in the equally hot April 2021, witnessed better turnout than in the first two phases this time. The voters then braved the torrid temperature as well as the pandemic,
which took lakhs of lives, to exercise their fundamental duty.

Past Challenges
Notwithstanding the logistic challenges and lack of modern facilities and means of transportation, the 1977 and 1984 Lok Sabha elections registered 60.5% and just over 64% turnout, respectively. The first Lok Sabha election saw just under 45% turnout. But that was a totally different situation and citizens were not used to elections. The Election Commission was a totally new body that had never undertaken this biggest ever exercise
in world’s history.

However, the irony is that some constituencies in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan registered lower than 45% turnout this time. For example, Nawada in Bihar saw just 41% turnout. Incidentally, these seats were won by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its allies in 2019.

Global Warming

If rising mercury can be held responsible for keeping people away from polling booths, then how is it that a large number of spectators line up to enter an outdoor stadium in the same burning mid-afternoon to watch the Indian Premier League (IPL) matches held every year in April and May. After all, these cricket-crazy citizens cover a much longer distance to reach the venue than the polling booths anywhere in the country. They have to take their seats before 3:00 in the afternoon under the sun in the open gallery.

In fact, cricket matches were never played in India during summers in the previous century. And IPL is just a one-and-a-half decade old phenomenon. The more we debate global Warming, the more we play cricket in the hot afternoon.

Global warming has become an excuse for apologists of low voter turnout in the ongoing parliamentary election in India, even though it is a fact that all the Lok Sabha elections since 2004, have been held in the same mid-summer months of April and May—not to mention the Assembly and local bodies polls.

To distract attention from the real issue, the argument of wedding season, too, is being forwarded—as if people did not marry in the past. Some experts have come up with the argument of seasonal migration when the fact is that this is not a new phenomenon.

Farm labourers from West Bengal, Bihar and East Uttar Pradesh go to Punjab, Haryana and West UP usually in late May, that is at the start of Kharif season. Strangely, low turnout has also been witnessed in industrial hubs of West UP which attract, rather than, export, such migrant workers.

It is for the Election Commission to respond as to why it extended the election to June 4 this time. Barring 2019, when the result was announced on May 23 in all the elections since 2004, the whole exercise was over by mid-May.

The 1999 post-Kargil election was held in the months of September and October, that is during the peak of a late monsoon. In fact, the dates of polling in some constituencies had to be changed due to floods in parts of North India. These were held after the results were out.

The 1979 and 1984 Lok Sabha polls were held in late December. For all the Himalayan states -- from Jammu and Kashmir to the North East -- this is a very challenging time for voters. Yet, in the snow-capped villages of Ladakh or Sikkim, the old and young made it to the booths without any complaint. The first Lok Sabha election was also held in the winter of 1951-52.

At the international level, Britain went to the polls in December 2019 without anyone making a big excuse for the cold weather.

After all, it is none other than the previous BJP government, led by Atal Bihari Vajpayee, which should be held responsible for the change of election schedule in 2004. The term of the Lok Sabha was to expire in October, but after the victory in Assembly elections in Madhya
Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh in December 2003, the BJP preponed the dates by six months, as it wanted to cash in on the favourable atmosphere. It is another thing that the move backfired and the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance government lost the election. The results were announced on May 13.

There is no dearth of apologists who are preparing the ground for an excuse in case the BJP does not perform better.

The writer is a Patna-based freelance journalist. The views are personal.