55% say voting will make a difference in HT-C fore survey

MUMBAI: A majority 55% of Mumbaiites believe that voting will make a difference to their lives and 68% believe political parties sometimes keep their promises, according to a survey conducted by Hindustan Times and C fore.

The survey conducted between September 20 and 24 across Mumbai, Thane and Navi Mumbai revealed a shift in the attitude of urban voters. An overwhelming majority of those surveyed haven’t discounted political parties; besides the 68% who said political parties sometimes keep their promises, 18% said they often delivered on

IT’S A POSITIVE SIGN BECAUSE PEOPLE SEEM TO BE MOVING AWAY FROM AN EARLIER CYNICAL ATTITUDE ABOUT POLITICS AND WANT TO INVEST IN THE ELECTORAL PROCESS SURENDRA JONDHALE, political analyst

the promises made. Just 14 % said they never kept their word.

“It’s a positive sign because people seem to be moving away from an earlier cynical attitude about politics and want to invest in the electoral process and selection of their brand of politics and leaders. I would give credit to the Election Commission for its sustained public awareness campaign as well as the Anna Hazare’s anti-corruption movement for this attitudinal shift,’’ said Surendra Jondhale, political analyst.

The city’s polling percentage has remained poor, consistently below the state’s average, indicating apathy among the urban largely middle voters towards politics. In the 2009 Assembly, Mumbai’s polling percentage stood at 45.98% vis-a-vis the state’s 59.50%. The 2014 Lok Sabha election saw a turnout of 53% against the state’s 60%.