Ranchi: The central poll body is busy running an awareness campaign to increase the voting percentage in the November 13 assembly elections in Jharkhand. However, the question of the actual increase persists as the Chhath festival is also on the cards.
Chhath will be celebrated from November 5-8 on the heels of the date of polling. It remains to be seen how this festival of faith drives voters on D-Day.
Prof Devvrat Singh, head of the Department of Mass Communication at Central University, Ranchi, said Diwali and Chhath are just before the first phase of elections. During this time, people especially from urban areas move towards their ancestral places. Its effect is already visible with special trains carrying crowds to their hometowns and bustling markets. But the election vibe is not visible.
He said Ranchi, Dhanbad, Jamshedpur and Bokaro have a large Bihari populace who may shift to their home states to celebrate Chhath which will have an impact on the voting percentage. The post-Chhath lag also holds people back from returning to their workplaces.
However, Prof Singh believes that the possibility of the festival affecting the vote percentage in rural Jharkhand is less. Because tribals and natives live there.
Social activist Vasvi Kido said it was not the time for elections and festivals are falling close by. Elections should not have been held during the festivals as public facilities should have been taken care of. Festivals come once a year. People start shifting from the time of Durga Puja. In such a situation, many people will be deprived of voting. People celebrate Diwali and Chhath with great pomp. But it is not right to say that Chhath will be over by November 8 and people are expected to return to their original places by the election day.
The festivities are also making it difficult for political parties to connect with the masses ahead of the crucial poll. Kido said as elections are being held at the wrong time, many prospective voters will be deprived of their right to vote. In such a situation, the vote percentage is bound to be affected.
After the formation of Jharkhand in 2000, the first assembly election was held in three phases in February 2005 with 57.03 per cent voting. The second election was held in five phases in 2009 with a voting percentage of 56.96 per cent. In 2014, voting was held in five phases for the third time and counting was done on December 23. But despite being held under the Naxalite insurgency it registered 66.42 per cent voting. The percentage stood at 64.38 per cent in 2019.
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