Nainital: An analysis of voting patterns during the past three Lok Sabha elections of 2004, 2009 and 2014 in Uttarakhand reveals that even though voter turnout in the hills is increasing in each election, the gap between voting percentage of the constituencies in the hills and those in the plains continues to widen.

According to data collated by Doon-based think-tank Gati Foundation, the average voting percentage in the 2004 Lok Sabha elections in the plain areas of the state stood at 51% while voter turnout in hills stood at 47%. In the 2009 polls, voting average in plain areas of the state was 60% while voter turnout in hills was 48%. In 2014, an average of 70% voter turnout was recorded in the plains while the hills registered 55% average voter turnout. The study considered the constituencies of Tehri, Pauri and Almora as hill seats while the constituencies of Haridwar and Nainital-Udham Singh Nagar were regarded as being in the plains.

Analysing the trend, Anoop Nautiyal, founder chairperson of Gati Foundation, said that while one of the obvious reasons for the growing gap in voting percentages of hills and plains was continued migration from hills, another important factor was accessibility. “It is more a question of access than awareness. People are very much aware in the hills but migration and lack of accessibility results in low voting percentages.”

Social activist and Padma Shri awardee Shekhar Pathak added, “With many people in the hills migrating to urban centres in the plain areas of Uttarakhand, population in the hills has dwindled. Those who are left are mostly elderly, and those who cannot afford to move to these urban centres immediately. This results in skewed ratio of voting in hill areas. Also, most of those who have moved out cannot return to their villages to vote due to work constraints.”

A breakup of the voting percentage shows that in the 2004 general elections, voting percentage in Haridwar was 53.19% while Nainital-Udham Singh Nagar got 48.88% votes. In the same elections, voting percentage in Tehri stood at 43.44%, while in Pauri, it was 46.62% and 48.89% in Almora. The difference between hill and plain constituencies stood at 4%.

In 2009, the voting percentage in Haridwar was 60.99% while Nainital-Udham Singh Nagar registered 58.69% votes. In the same elections, voting percentage in Tehri stood at 50.38%, while in Pauri, it was 48.87% and 45.47 % in Almora. The difference between hill and plain constituencies stood at 12% which means the gap widened by 8% since the 2004 general elections.

In the 2014 general elections, the difference in voting percentage between hill and plain constituencies further grew to almost 15%. While Haridwar registered 71.57% voter turnout, Nainital-Udham Singh Nagar got 68.41% votes, Tehri 57.44%, Pauri 53.58% and Almora 52.41%.

Interestingly, overall voting percentage in Uttarakhand has been increasing with each election. In 2004, total voting percentage of the state was 48.74% which increased to 53.67% in 2009 and stood at 61.60% in 2014.

