It makes no difference, say city voters

The Waghodia Assembly segment 8212; considered a BJP stronghold 8212; recorded 44.26 per cent polling, notwithstanding rumours that BJP MLA Madhu Shrivastav had thrown in his lot with the Congress. The party, however, denied that it was true.

Savli, said to be a Congress bastion, recorded 44.53 per cent polling while Padra registered 53.24 per cent. The Padra votes are likely to be divided among the BJP, the Congress and Nationalist Congress Party, with the last two accounting for a major chunk, say observers.

According to Lakhawala, there was no one reason for the low voter turnout. 8220;It is the mood all over the State8221;, he says. 8220;People are tired of the frequent elections. The minorities and the slum-dwellers have voted less. But our candidate will win, albeit by a narrow margin.8221;

While politicians puzzled their heads about the low turnout and the impact it would have on party fortunes, the city8217;s intelligentsia had no doubt that this was the people8217;s way of expressing their disillusionment with the poll process.

8220;The people are fed up with frequent elections8221;, says social activist J S Bandukwala. 8220;The parties should have raised issues like the economy, poverty, water shortage and the Sardar Sarovar Project for the polls to have any relevance8221;.

Women8217;s activist Amita Verma, too, believes the people have been alienated by the frequent elections. 8220;While the intelligentsia is fed up by the corruption, slum-dwellers are upset by the absence of basic civic amenities8221;, she says.

That disillusionment accounts for the apathy of hundreds of voters, who opted not to vote. 8220;Why should I vote and for whom should I vote8221;, asks R K Pandya of Fatehgunj, who was in the city on Sunday, but chose not to go to the polling booth. 8220;It would make no difference.8221;

8220;I had a hectic week in office. So I decided spend time with my children,8221; says M N Desai, also of Fatehgunj. 8220;It was more worthwhile taking my children out than casting my vote.8221;

The malaise has spread deep. Mahesh Joshi, an FY student of M S University, says he was excited initially when his name appeared in the voters8217; list. 8220;But the lack of enthusiasm among my elder family members put me off8221;, he says.

For several others, it was the one-day cricket match between the West Indies and India that kept them at home. 8220;I8217;m sure there will be elections next year; the candidates, too, will be the same8221;, grins Aniket Shukla, a final year student of the Faculty of Science. 8220;But we wouldn8217;t have been able to see the live telecast again.8221;

Still others had no reason but preferred to stay at home 8220;just like that8221;. Says R H Shukla of Subhanpura, 8220;There were no reasons as such for not casting my vote, but yes, nothing motivated me to do so.8221;