New Delhi: Expressing concerns over the issue of “urban apathy” ahead of the Karnataka assembly elections 2023, CEC Rajiv Kumar said the poll body “purposely” kept the voting day on a Wednesday as it will make the voters difficult to take a long holiday.
Karnataka is set to go on polls on 10 May, while counting of the votes will take place on 13 May, the Election Commission announced Wednesday.
Announcing the poll dates for the 224-seat Karnataka Assembly, Chief Election Commissioner said, “We have purposely kept the date of the poll on Wednesday. Had it been Monday, it could have been combined with Saturday and Sunday, and had it been Tuesday, one could have gone out by taking a day off. For Wednesday, two days off need to be taken, which is a little difficult.”
Kumar added that he now hopes “people will come to vote” as it “will be difficult to go out”.
Urban apathy is the trend of low voter turnout in urban areas when the polls are held.
The trend of urban apathy was seen in the states of Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh, which went to polls last year. To tackle the issue, the election commission has taken it to schools and various organisations to spread awareness.
Highlighting the impact of urban apathy in Bengaluru, the CEC said areas such as BBMP (south), BBMP (north), BBMP (central), and Bangalore Urban had low voter turnout recorded in the past.
88% of polling stations in these four districts are in urban areas. Compared to the Karnataka voter turnout of 72% in 2018, these four districts had a turnout of 57% or less, ThePrint has learnt.
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