CHENNAI: Chennai once again recorded a poor voter turnout. In Tamil Nadu, 14 assembly segments recorded less than 60% turnout. Of them, 13 are in Chennai and its suburbs.
Analysts say this could be due to the unsolved dual vote issue, lazy attitude of voters and fear of Covid.
Political analyst A Ramasamy said: "The middle and upper middle class in Chennai do not show much affection towards voting (to form a government) or current popular politics. Irony is that the same government wants to do more for these people compared to the poor and rural voters, who vote in large numbers. Tamil Nadu's 25% investment is only in Chennai."
The upper middle class has an aversion towards Dravidian parties and they show it in this election process. They do not know what the alternative is. They should realise they can change things only by participating in the process, he added.
Another political analyst Sathyamoorthy said, "One of the main reasons for low turnout could be the dual voter ID issue. Even after Aadhaar verification etc, several people might still have votes in Chennai and back in their native places. If not, 4-5 lakh people would not be leaving the city in buses during elections. So, this issue will naturally reflect in poor record. Covid too partially ensured many stayed indoors in Chennai.
"Across Tamil Nadu, over the last two decades, high voter turnout is no more synonymous with anticipated anti incumbency," he said.
Not accepting Covid or dual vote issue as a reason, Political Science professor Ramu Manivannan attributed the drop in figures to indifferent attitude of the upper strata of the society.
The same group that keeps complaining about water, power cuts, corruption etc in social media does not commit to a change, he said