THE JHARKHAND STORY NETWORK
Daltonganj, May 8: The third phase voting percentage may have a slight edge over the previous two phases, the low turnout continues to cause worry and anxiety back here in Jharkhand which will go to vote first on May 13.
The third phase of voting was held for 93 Lok Sabha seats spread over 11 states on May 7.
The worry and anxiety is whether the ghost of a lower turnout of voters will haunt Jharkhand also.
The ground reality here in Palamu which in Jharkhand will vote first in the state along with 3 more Lok Sabha seats, wears a different look.
Migration of voters unabated
The post-Holi migration of labourer voters is unabated. It’s still on in Palamu. A deficit of 20 to 30 labourer voters from Palamu non-stop by trains or buses day and night is set to cast adversely on the percentage of voting here.
A reality check can be done with the Sambalpur Jammu Tawai express train with which labourer voters can be seen moving out in good numbers at night even today for places like Secunderabad even to earn a living.
Buses that go to Bihar, UP and Chhatisgarh can be checked for the confirmation of the migration.
Extreme heat
Extreme heat is stated to be a major factor for a lower turnout of voters so far.
It may be one of the factors but not any sole factor behind the lower turnout of voters.
The 2019 Lok Sabha election was held in intense heat. The voter turnout was impressive. Palamu achieved little over 64 per cent of the voting in Lok Sabha election then in 2019.
Today the present dispensation here is working hard to at least retain its 2019 Lok Sabha voting percentage which is a little over 64 per cent if adversity related to the poll does not cast a shadow over the turnout.
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There was a time in Palamu when its officers boasted of achieving an ’80 par voting percentage this 2024 Lok Sabha election’ but with time the same band of officers now maintain a stiff upper lip attitude towards the percentage of voting here in Palamu.
The band of officers will heave a sigh of relief if Palamu holds on to its 64 percent tally of voting this 2024 Lok Sabha election.
Need for a massive outreach of information
Sloganeering and Rangoli will not add to the voting percentage in Palamu. It calls for a need for a massive outreach of information through media to the electors.
There is a huge bulk of old-age pensioners comprising widows, widowers, destitute and retired government employees who stunningly are aloof from the humdrum of the Lok Sabha election.
People (read voters) talk about ‘garmee, pani’ but not of voting.
CEO confident of a good turnout
The man who is very confident of a high turnout of voters in Jharkhand is the state chief electoral officer K Ravi Kumar. He trusts his team and returning officers across the 14 Lok Sabha seats who have earned a sobriquet to be known as ‘a flag bearer of free and fair maximum of Poll’.
Returning officers inaccessible
However, by this time now the chief electoral officer must have noticed with distress that returning officers pan Jharkhand have maintained a safe distance from the mainstream and highly reachable media. Such returning officers will alone explain their cause of detachment to the media.
It had been a practice/order from the tenure of T N Sheshan the country had as its glorious and no-nonsense Chief Election Commissioner of India that a returning officer will hold 5 PCs (press conferences) beginning the declaration of the poll schedules accompanied by the enforcement of the model code of conduct by the ECI till the announcement / giving away of the certificate to the winning contestant.
Will the state chief electoral officer take pains to find out how many of the returning officers in Jharkhand have found time to interface with the media through the PC?
In one communication to this correspondent K Ravi Kumar wrote that the voters of Jharkhand and the election machinery of the state would ensure a high percentage of voting.
