Urban voters raring to go

Urban India's apathetic attitude to elections and politics is so deeply entrenched in our mindset, that many believe that people use the polling date for a getaway. But much has been changing for urban voters, since the 2009 general election in which cities and towns played a key part in the Congress' win. As the 2014 election approaches, urban voters can change the game just as Delhi did in the December assembly elections.

Ritu Menon of feminist publishing house, Women Unlimited, says that the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has galvanised political awareness and engagement by holding "mohalla sabhas" (neighbourhood gatherings).

Even Residents Welfare Associations (RWAs) of middle class housing clusters have come out to actively engage in the political process. "Delhi (assembly) elections have proved that the middle class is out there in the frontline," she said.

Sociologist Radhika Chopra finds an "astonishing engagement with politics since the December 4 Delhi assembly election" and that people are both critical and indulgent towards AAP and Kejriwal. She says that politics has became a talking point at the dining table as well as with the fruit-vendor. Chopra thinks that people's expectation with AAP is that the party should play the role of an effective opposition. She also feels that while the Congress is being seen as weak-kneed, it does not translate into an approval for the BJP or for Modi. She feels that people are critical of the BJP for its failure to be a good opposition party.

The urban middle class' political engagement does not arise from idealism. There are other pressing stakes as well. Meenakshi Pandey, senior executive in a leading private sector company, is conscious of the fact that she is paying a lot in taxes and she wants the government to deliver. She feels that the government will need to provide basic amenities to the poor and civic amenities for all. "Yes, creating jobs is an important task," she says.

Is her commitment to politics ideology-derived? She concedes that she is ideologically close to AAP and very distant from that of the BJP or of its prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi. But she is disappointed with the AAP and former chief minister Arvind Kejriwal. She said that she trusted AAP to govern and that it had shattered her dream. Pandey was sure that she would not vote for the BJP but opt for NOTA (None of the Above) choice on the ballot list, but if BJP and Modi are able to deal well with the economy, then she would not let her ideological dislike come in the way of accepting the BJP as a viable political alternative.

Fahmi Hasan, a travel industry professional in his mid-20s, said that the expectation from politicians and parties is about jobs. He is worried that Indian businesses and industries resort to retrenchment using the global recession as a pretext. "They (the party that wins the election) have to handle the economy," he observes.

The urban voter is not just the educated, middle class individual. There is also the underclass, school dropout, low-income wage earner, who has a clear preference for the AAP and BJP. Yashwant, an auto-driver, is from Eta in Uttar Pradesh. He has a vote in Delhi as well as in Eta, the constituency represented by former UP chief minister Kalyan Singh. Yashwant voted for AAP in the Delhi assembly election and believes that Kejriwal will win more than a few seats in UP. He hopes to vote for the BJP in Delhi as well as in Eta because polling is on different days in both the places. "There is a BJP wave in UP," he says.

Dinesh Kumar, another autorickshaw driver from Delhi, has clear preferences. He wants AAP and Kejriwal to hold the reins of the Delhi government, and Modi and BJP to form the government at the Centre.

Sociologist Dipankar Gupta says that there is no more the urban-rural divide as in the past. "There is not one person in a village, who does not have a relative in a big city," he says, adding that there is an intense information flow between cities and villages. Gupta says that it is not true to say that the urban voter falls into the class mould and the rural voter is bound by caste. "Constituencies are growing larger and no caste is dominant enough. Most times, people vote for a person who is not of their caste."