Municipal Corporation elections: Reading Turnout- Patidars, minorities turned up in big numbers

Ahmedabad
With a polling of 46.23 per cent, Ahmedabad witnessed its highest turnout in civic elections since 2005. While more than 50 per cent male voters exercised their franchise, only 41.80 per cent female voters turned up at the polling stations.

In Ahmedabad, despite alleged irregularities in the names of Patidar voters being “deleted” from the voting list, Vastral, which is dominated by the Patidars followed by other backward castes (OBC) like Maldhari communities and some migrant population from Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra, had the highest percentage of 56.33 among total 48 wards in the city.
Other wards in the city that that recorded above 50 per cent turnout included the Patidar-dominated areas of Gota, Ghatlodiya and Lambha. In contrast, low voting was witnessed in mix population wards of Navrangpura and Bodakdev with 37.29 and 39.12 per cent polling, respectively.
Similarly, the Muslim-dominated ward of Danilimda saw the second highest turnout of 53.61 per cent, followed by Behrampura that has a mix population of OBC and minority communities. Migrants and OBC too came out in huge numbers, which evident was in wards like Odhav.

Similar was the case among female voters. For instance, wards like Lambha recorded the highest female voter turnout of 51.40 per cent. Asarwa and Naroda wards also witnessed high turnout of women voters.

Vadodara
Compiled booth data in Vadodara have revealed that the voter turnout of 48.36 per cent, which comprised 52.32 per cent male voters and 44.16 per cent female voters. While the percentage of women voters remained below 50 per cent in all 19 wards, Ward 7 saw the lowest voter turn out at 36.69 per cent. Ward 18 (Manjalpur) witnessed 49.14% women exercising their franchise.
Wards with a sizeable Patidar-Patel population saw over 50 per cent voter turnouts. Ward 1 (Mehsana Nagar) witnessed 50.67 per cent voting, while Ward 4 (New VIP Road-Karelibaug) saw 50.16 per cent. The heavily Patidar-populated of Ward 18 saw 53.66 per cent voter turn out — the highest among the 19 wards of Vadodara.

The voter percentage also shows peak turn outs in wards where heavyweights were in race for a seat. For instance, Ward 4 has Congress VMC Opposition leader Chandrakant Shrivastav, while Ward 9 (Gorwa) has BJP defect Rajesh Ayare, who is contesting on a Rashtriya Samaj Paksh ticket this time. Ward 15, where BJP heavyweight Shailesh Sotta is a candidate also polled in 53.18 per cent votes along with Patidar dominated Ward 18, from where sitting Congress corporator Chirag Zaveri is a contestant.

Similarly, Ward 19 (Makarpura-Tarsali) which had 17 candidates in fray, including Congress leader Chinnam Gandhi, also polled 48.84 per cent votes.

In communally sensitive areas of Ward 11 (Tandalja) and 14 (Wadi-Moghulwada), the voter turnout hovered around 44 per cent.
On Monday, multiple memorandums were submitted to the City Election Officer by Congress, raising the issue of missing voters on the list on Sunday. Shrivastav raised the issue of the voters who were “kept away” from voting due to their displacement at the hands of the VMC, demanding that the Wards where such voters could not cast their votes should see re-polling. In his letter to the City Election Officer Avantika Aulakh, Shrivastav said, “Under the guise of slum free city, the VMC has evacuated hundreds of voters who were unable to cast their vote as no information was passed on to them to make sure they arrive in their respective areas to cast their vote. For the true essence of democracy, the
se voters should be contacted and allowed to participate in the democratic process of franchise. These wards should see re-polling.”
Congress leaders on Monday sat on guard of the strong rooms where the EVM machines have been locked until counting day. The move came after party candidate Chinnam Gandhi from Ward 19 shot a letter to Aulakh demanding action against the Returning officer of his ward for “not sealing the EVM” machine before transporting it out of the polling station on Sunday.

Surat
Given the aggressive campaign by the Patidars in view of the reservation stir and arrest of Hardik Patel for alleged sedition, a high turnout was expected from 13 wards dominated by the Patidar community. However, a poor response was seen from these wards, a large turnout was seen in those wards which have a large number of migrants.
Highest voting was recorded in Udhna Limbayat ward with 53.24 per cent turnout, while the lowest was in Karanj -Maghob with 25.55 per cent. Karanj- Maghob area has 95 per cent Patidar voters while Udhna-Limbayat has the largest number of voters hailing from Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh and Odisha settled in Surat.
Many voters in the Patidar dominated areas had gone to their native places in Saurashtra during Diwali which might be the reason for the low turnout.

In Patidar-dominated areas, names of hundreds of Patidar Patel names were not found in the voting list. Even the Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS) co- convenors Nikhil Sawani and Dharmik Malaviya found their names marked ‘deleted’.

Jamnagar
The Jamnagar Municipal Corporation election recorded 56.96 per cent turnout, the highest on Sunday. Not only this, 52.30 per cent polling was done by female voters.
In fact, Jamnagar is the only civic body in Saurashtra where female voters out-polled their male couterparts in one election segment. In JMC Ward no. 1, which includes Muslim-dominated Bedi area, 67 per cent female voters cast their votes against 66.22 of male voters. Out of 16 Wards of JMC, 10 recorded 50 per cent or more turnout of women voters.
Ward no. 1 also accounted for the highest polling in Jamnagar with 66.59 per cent voters exercising their franchise. It was followed by Ward 12, another minority-dominated area from where BJP has fielded three Muslims, including a butcher, with 63.84 per cent polling .
However, in a cause of concern for sitting mayor Dinesh Patel, his election Ward 3 in Patel Colony recorded 46.3 per cent polling, the lowest in the city.

Meanwhile, Patidar-dominated Ward 7 and 8 saw mixed outings. While Ward 7 recorded a 58.38 per cent polling, Ward 8 registered a below average 51.55 per cent turnout. Congress has withdrawn its candidates from these two wards in support of those fielded by a Patidar outfit.

“Polling has remained high in Wards 1, 6, 11 and 12 , which are slum pockets or poor neighbourhoods. On the other hand, people in posh areas like Wards 3 and 5 are out on holidays due to Diwali vacation. Therefore, we have suffered in such areas,” said Dharmednra Jadeja, general secretary of Jamnagar city unit of BJP.

Rajkot
The city recorded average 49.53 per cent polling with Patidar-dominated areas in Wards 11, 12, 6 and 5 recorded better than average voting. Wards 11 and 12, which cover Mavadi and Nana Mava areas recorded 53.48 per cent voting each. Bhikha Vasosya, president of Rajkot city unit of BJP, is contesting from Ward 11 and facing litmus test due to the Patidar quota agitation.
Wards 5 and 6, which cover Pedak Road witnessed 52.49 per cent and 54.17 per cent polling respectively. But, the highest turnout of 61.89 was recorded in Ward 15 on Dudhsagar road that covers a few slum pockets. It was followed by Ward 18 of newly-merged Kotharia area with 57.14 per cent turnout and Ward 6 being the third highest with 54.17 per cent polling.
Only 44.29 per cent female voters exercised their franchise in Rajkot. Around 60 per cent female voters in Ward 15 cast their votes, the highest in the city. But, only 36 per cent female voters turned up in Ward 7 from where Kashyap Shukla, general secretary of Rajkot city unit of BJP, is seeking re-election.

Ward 14, from where sitting deputy mayor Uday Kangad, is seeking re-election recorded less than average polling of 46 per cent. Turnout also remained below average (45 per cent) in posh Ward 8 from where sitting standing committee chairman Nitin Bhardwaj is seeking re-election.

Bhavnagar
BMC recorded brisk polling in the beginning, but could manage only 47.45 per cent turnout at the end. Voters in Vadavada, Pirchhala, posh Takhteshwar, Kaliyabid-Sidsar and Sardarna-gar of Wards 7, 5, 6, 10 and 11, respectively, showed less interest in the election and below 45 per cent polling was recorded in these areas.

The highest polling, 57.92 per cent, was recorded in Ward 4 of Krushanagar-Ruva area. Ward 2, covering Karchaliyapara area was distant second with 51.32 and Vadva of Ward 2 third with 50.98 per cent. The female voters’ turnout in the city was 44.76 per cent.