Written by: Express News Service
2 min readAhmedabad/suratOct 11, 2010 04:20 AM IST
First published on: Oct 11, 2010 at 04:20 AM IST
Voters’ apathy was not the only common factor this municipal polls in six cities,as many activists and others who raised civic concerns in the run up to the elections also kept away from polling booths on Sunday. While some did not register as voter,others chose not to cast their votes.
In Surat,Prof Kiran Desai,of Centre for Social Studies,said,“It hardly felt like a poll day.” Desai had not registered himself as voter after having shifted to a new neighbourhood. “I could have pursued it,but I’m not so interested because they (politicians) are not talking about things that affect us. Also,the elected wing of the SMC is weak.”
Prof Darshini Mahadevia,a co-author of the state’s first Human Resource Development report,also chose not to register herself for voting after shifting her residence.
“I’ve just shifted to my new residence,so I haven’t registered afresh since the process is complicated. I would have voted. But none of the candidates addressed local issues (in their campaigns). The BJP banks on the charisma of the CM Narendra Modi and the Congress talks about metro rail even as BRTS is working fine. The issues that actually concern us are not discussed.”
As the turnout remained between 13 and 30 per cent in Ahmedabad’s posh neighbourhood of Bodakdev,an election officer said,“It is unfortunate that educated people do not come to vote.”
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