Tribals’ zeal may help Congress

One of the highlights of the elections in Gujarat this year was the high turnout of voters in the tribal-dominated areas. Apparently, while the urban voters showed they were not too keen to participate in the polling process, the less-educated tribals displayed greater responsibility.

The four constituencies in the state reserved for the Schedule Tribes (ST) - Dahod, Chhota Udepur, Bardoli and Valsad registered 44.73%, 54.13%, 57.80% and 56.11% voting, respectively.

It is largely believed that tribals have traditionally voted for the Congress and, as such, the higher turnout in tribal belts may help Congress more than BJP. The poll observers, however, are not very forthcoming on the assumption and only the poll results will reveal the truth.

Overall, voter turnout increased by 2.76% this year. In 2004, the percentage of voter turnout in the state was 45.16%. Similarly, the voting by women also witnessed an increase this time. In 2004, 40.06% of women voters had exercised their franchise, while this time the number went up to 43.38%. Significantly, the turnout of women voters was higher in tribal-dominated areas than other parts of the state. The percentage of male voting went up to 52.15% from 49.97% in 2004.

Out of 3.64 crore voters 1.74 crore used their right to vote. In Ahmedabad East constituency, voter turnout was 42.41%, while in Ahmedabad West (SC) it was 48.21%. Gandhinagar voted much higher this time than it had in 2004. In the last elections, the voting percentage was reported at 39.74%, this time it went as high as to 50.82%.