The next hours will include lots of discussion about the Delhi elections and the exit polls that followed them, most of which suggest the Aam Aadmi Party will be forming the government in the capital. Pollsters have already put out data, not just about projected seat totals and vote shares but also how that breaks down by caste and religion and more. Yet the only official data that are out for us to see involve turnouts, and here the news need not be qualified: Delhi is far ahead of most other cities in the country.
The Election Commission said on Saturday that a record 67.1% of the electorate had come out to vote, which amounts to a whopping 8.9 million voters. Even more impressively, that means nearly a million more people chose to vote in this year’s assembly polls when compared to the previous elections, which were held barely a year and a half ago. As far as the capital is concerned, politics and democracy are in.
Of the major metros in the country, the Delhi voter is the most willing to come out and actually push a button on her machine. A look at the turnout in major cities in their respective state assembly polls shows that the capital comes out at the top, followed closely by Chennai. Kolkata also puts up a fight at 62%. Mumbai, which rejoiced about its highest turnout in 25 years during the 2014 Maharashtra elections, still barely managed a turnout of more than half the electorate.
And this isn’t just a trend that holds true because of the huge media focus on the Delhi elections over the last couple of months. It's something that has been apparent for some time now. A look at turnouts for the Lok Sabha elections suggests similar trends, with Delhi and Kolkata at the top, and Mumbai far behind yet again.
What’s even more remarkable is just how far the capital has come. In 2003, the turnout for assembly elections came to just about 47%, lower than Mumbai’s numbers for last year. Yet, in a matter of a decade, that had gone up to a record 66% in the 2013 elections, and now in 2015 has hit an even more impressive height.
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The Election Commission said on Saturday that a record 67.1% of the electorate had come out to vote, which amounts to a whopping 8.9 million voters. Even more impressively, that means nearly a million more people chose to vote in this year’s assembly polls when compared to the previous elections, which were held barely a year and a half ago. As far as the capital is concerned, politics and democracy are in.
Of the major metros in the country, the Delhi voter is the most willing to come out and actually push a button on her machine. A look at the turnout in major cities in their respective state assembly polls shows that the capital comes out at the top, followed closely by Chennai. Kolkata also puts up a fight at 62%. Mumbai, which rejoiced about its highest turnout in 25 years during the 2014 Maharashtra elections, still barely managed a turnout of more than half the electorate.
And this isn’t just a trend that holds true because of the huge media focus on the Delhi elections over the last couple of months. It's something that has been apparent for some time now. A look at turnouts for the Lok Sabha elections suggests similar trends, with Delhi and Kolkata at the top, and Mumbai far behind yet again.
What’s even more remarkable is just how far the capital has come. In 2003, the turnout for assembly elections came to just about 47%, lower than Mumbai’s numbers for last year. Yet, in a matter of a decade, that had gone up to a record 66% in the 2013 elections, and now in 2015 has hit an even more impressive height.