Voting, is it a class thing in Delhi?

As Delhi voted for the municipal polls on Sunday, the divide between the voter turnout in affluent wards and slums or illegal colonies was stark.

While voters in slums, resettlement and unauthorised colonies came out in large numbers, the rich failed to defy the usual perception of them not being bothered being about civic issues. The turnout in most slums and unauthorised colonies was above 55%.

Areas such as Trilokpuri East, Kalyanpuri, Nand Nagri, Sunder Nagri, New Seemapuri, Seelampur, Karawal Nagar West, Nehru Vihar and Sadatpur in East Delhi reported voting above 60%.

In South Delhi too, Madipur, Isapur, Sitapuri, Gumanhera and Bhati wards saw the same trend and reported above 60% voting.

As per BJP leaders, though it is a general trend that the voting percentage remains high in slum and unauthorised colonies, this time both Modi and Yogi factors will help them in getting positive results from these areas.

“The voters, most of them purvanchalis, have seen massive improvement in UP within days assembly elections. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s decision of demonetisation was widely accepted by people living in these localities,” said Vijay Prakash Pandey, former leader of house, North Delhi Corporation.

AAP, however, said the voting pattern reflected a class divide.

“This kind of voting pattern based on class divide and it has nothing to do with any political party. People vote in high number because they are directly impacted by the civic issues and unlike posh colonies they don’t have the capacity to hire their own sweepers, garbage collectors etc.,” said Saurabh Bhardwaj, secretary, AAP Delhi unit.

In North Delhi, Bakhtawarpur saw the highest voting at 69% and Nangal Thakran, Pooth Khurd, Mangolpuri B, Mangolpuri C, Shakurpur and Kishan Ganj wards saw voting above 58%.

According to Pandey, the Delhi State Election Commission should come up with the concept of ‘online voting’ so that the people in upper middle class areas, who indulge in drawing room politics, can participate in voting.

However, people living in the unauthorised colonies share a different opinion. Expressing ‘hopelessness’ over chances of improvement in these colonies, Harish Chandra Singh, a resident of Sonia Vihar said that neither Narendra Modi nor Yogi Adityanath will come to improve the sanitation condition in the area.

“We need a strong councillor who would work for improving basic amenities such as sanitation and water supply. Despite having Manoj Tiwari (Delhi BJP president) as area MP and Annapurna Mishra, two-time councillor and former EDMC mayor, we failed to see any major development. It was just a month before polls that roads were laid and regular sweeping started,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Congress leaders are seeing this trend as the path for party’s revival. “The slum, resettlement and unauthorised colonies have always been our votebank. It shifted in the last assembly polls to AAP but this time people have again voted for us,” said senior Congress leader.