Slums beat middle class in bunking polls

The unenthusiastic response from slum pockets to the April 30 Lok Sabha elections for the six Mumbai seats is seen as a major contributor to the dismal 41% turnout recorded in the city.

A clear trend seems to be emerging from the voting pattern across the city—the slum dwellers’ participation in the electoral process this time around was less than expected; and the middle class, almost as if woken out of its traditional ennui, came out of its apartments to exercise its franchise.

The numbers, released by the Election Commission (EC) on the voting pattern, say it all: In Mumbai North-Central, the Vile Parle assembly constituency, which has almost fully middle-class populace, recorded 46.24% votes. Contrast this with Dharavi: The slum turned out barely 33% people to go to the EVM machines.

Take Mumbai South, with its areas like Marine Drive, Peddar Road, Malabar Hill and Cuffe Parade juxtaposed with slum-dominated areas like Umerkhadi, Mohammed Ali Road and Byculla.

Of the nine polling booths at GD Somani School at Cuffe Parade, five that were for electorate from buildings and high rises recorded 38% vote, while the remaining ‘slum-dominated’ booths registered a little below 35% voting. The trend was surprising even for the electoral officials deputed at the polling station.

Malabar Hill assembly that is almost predominantly affluent voters (though there is a huge slum pocket there too) returned 43.28% turnout, way above Mumbadevi (35.46%) and Byculla (38.59%) assembly segments, both of which have a mixed population of slums and middle class residents.

According to Indrani Malkani, secretary of Malabar Hill Residents Association, Walkeshwar, Godrej Baug and Napean Sea Road areas have 50,978 voters and the turnout was 53.89%. Similar was the case from ‘A’ Road to ‘D’ Road in Churchgate.
Anil Bhatia, member, Marine Drive Residents Association, D Road, reckoned the voting was much more than that recorded “because the electoral roll continued to reflect names of the deceased”.

Mumbai North-West seemed to be an exception. In this constituency, Jogeshwari, a pocket of lower-middle-class voters, registered a healthy 47.08% vote. On the contrary, in Versova, a motley locality of elite, middle class and fishermen, the voter turnout was as low as 39.38%. In Mumbai North, even as voting in slum pockets at the New Collector’s Compound and Squatters’ Colony in Malvani and Valnai was reported to be around the 35 % mark, polling in the urban pocket between Liberty Garden and Nadiadwala Colony was over 44 %.

Against Dharavi’s 33%, the middle-class segments of Mahim and Chembur saw turnouts of 42% and 48% respectively. Amin Patel, a Congress leader, said it was most unlike Mumbai to not turn up to vote. “Something went wrong with the election process,” he said, and pointed to Dharavi, saying it is hard to believe that one of the city’s poorest areas had among its lowest turnouts.

Reported by Surendra Gangan, Nikhil S Dixit, Sandeep Ashar, Kiran Tare, Ninad Siddhaye Pandurang Mhaske & Ashutosh Shukla