Disillusioned Gurugram residents choose to stay away from polls

Gurugram’s urban millennials didn’t show much interest in the polls, with the Millennium City recording a low voter turnout in the Assembly elections. Despite conveniences like doorstep polling booths, Gurugram’s four Assembly segments reported only 57.4% voter participation till the time of filing of this report.

It was the rural segment of Sohna, which includes Tauru block of Nuh district, which helped improve the district’s overall turnout recording 68.6% polling. Pataudi followed with 61.4%, while urban Gurugram segments — Badshahpur and Gurugram city — registered lower turnouts of 54% and 51%, respectively.

Gurugram and Badshahpur have the highest concentration of high-rise residential polling booths, specifically set up to encourage participation from residents of these societies. However, this initiative failed to draw the urban electorate out in significant numbers. Local officials had hoped the turnout would at least match the 62% seen in the Lok Sabha elections.

“We are still tallying the votes with the booths and expect the final percentage to reach around 62%. Gurugram is traditionally known for low voter turnout. We managed over 60% in the Lok Sabha elections with high-rise booths and expect to achieve the same this time,” said Nishant Yadav, Deputy Commissioner and District Election Officer of Gurugram.

Around 1,500 high-rise polling booths were set up in the city. However, according to RWAs, disillusionment with political parties contributed to the low enthusiasm among voters.

“People are tired after trusting different political parties for the past 10 years. Most feel that their vote won’t make a difference. Many young voters were also away for the extended weekend, which impacted voting in urban areas,” said Praveen Malik from the United Association of New Gurugram.

Sources noted that during the Lok Sabha elections, candidates were more proactive, offering pick-up and drop services and delivering voter slips at home, but little effort was made this time to mobilise the electorate.

Many Gurugram residents who did not vote defended their decision on social media, claiming that there were no viable options among the candidates. “They are all the same, and voting for any of them would have been wasted. Make NOTA stronger because that’s what Gurugram wants,” said local activist Sunita Sahay.