The jury is out on the poor turnout of 45.77 per cent in the assembly elections in Pune city area. Get the "right" candidate, citizens will come out in droves to exercise their franchise... That's what intellectuals, academicians, industrialists, advocates and civic activists feel. On the other hand, administrators, loathe to accept the collective failure, blame citizens for not realising their responsibility of voting in a democratic set-up.

Divisional Commissioner Dilip Band is emphatic that citizens do not understand the importance of their one vote. "The day citizens realise how important their vote is, we will have an improved turnout. This time, it was seen that citizens preferred to enjoy their holiday rather than realise their responsibility," he said.

"As administrators, we did everything possible from correcting voters' list, issuing identity cards, setting up helpline to carrying out awareness campaigns, but they did not help in ensuring a big turnout," Band said. Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Commissioner Asheesh Sharma said sensitising people to the importance of voting will help.

If the administrators are pointing at voters' apathy, a cross-section of the citizens fault the choice of candidates by political parties for the pathetic turnout in urban areas. "There is no such thing as lack of awareness among voters. People are well aware of the candidates and their credentials. If the candidates' credibility is under cloud, people will show their resentment by not coming out and voting. This is what happened during this election," said Dinesh Castellino, vice-president, (Legal) and Company Secretary, Cummins India Ltd.

... contd.