Religious fests may affect voters’ turnout

BERHAMPUR: Religious programmes are likely to affect voter turnout in Ganjam district during the ensuing Lok Sabha and Assembly elections. Polling for Berhampur Lok Sabha constituency and its Assembly segments is scheduled to be held on April 11. This coincides with Maa Budhi Thakurani festival, a biennial event.  Similarly, Chaitra Yatra of Goddess Tara Tarini will also be held during the period. Though the devotees will be persuaded to cast their votes, it will be tough for election officials to convince participants of ‘Danda Nacha’, a 21-day festival of penance, to exercise their franchise. The festival will start from the last week of March and continue till April 14.

During the period, the devotees will leave their homes and move from one place to another in the district. There are over 200 ‘Danda Nacha’ groups in the district and each comprises 100 to 1,000 participants.During the 21-day festival, the participants will travel extensively on foot and remain away from their respective booths.

A similar situation was witnessed in the 2014 panchayat polls. The district administration had then tried its best to convince the devotees to exercise their franchise. However, whether it yielded the desired result has not been assessed. The administration will try to convince the participants of the yatra to cast their votes this time too.

Around 2.40 lakh new voters have been included in the district voters’ list this year. During 2014 elections, the number of voters in the district was 25,61,882 and now it has gone up to 28,01,610.