Growth of the electorate
22 Jan 2015 6:04 AM IST
In the first assembly, an MLA represented around 83,000 voters but the new MLA eho gets elected on February 10 will represent over 1,85,000 voters.
As per the latest voters’ list published by the Election Commission on January 5, the national Capital has a total of 1,30,85,251 voters out of which 72.60 lakh are men and 58.24 lakh women. “The largest constituency in terms of number of voters is Matiala which has around 3.39 lakh voters, while the smallest is Chandni Chowk with as many as 1.12 lakh voters,” said a senior officer of Delhi unit of Election Commission.
According to Delhi electoral office report, Shakur Basti Assembly constituency has the highest gender ratio of 938 women per 1,000 men while Tughlaqabad has the lowest of 638. In 1993, male electorates were 32.37 lakh while female electorates were 26.13 lakh. But in 2015, male electorates are around 72.60 lakh and female 58.24 lakh. There is a major gap between male and female electorates now. The highest voter and population ratio is Jangpura (83.9%) while lowest is in New Delhi (47.5%) which means only less than half of the people living in New Delhi assembly segment are eligible to vote.
In comparison to the first Assembly election, the demographic scenario of Delhi has completely changed. During the first Delhi Assembly election in 1993, the share of villagers, Punjabi and traders community (bania) were dominating and were considered the king makers. It was also evident from the fact that all the political voices of the city were from these communities including the first Chief Minister Madan Lal Khurana.
But now, migrants living in unauthorised colonies and slums have taken up that position and all the political parties are focussing on them to get a majority in the Delhi Assembly elections. Presently, over 29 out of 70 Assembly segment are held by the migrant population. It was evident in the last election when Arvind Kejriwal swept this vote bank and won 28 Assembly segments. The villagers have now over 15-16 seats, Punjabis around 5-7 seats, traders (bania) have 4-5 seats and the rest are mostly a mixed population.
The data of the voters’ list also reveal that around 1,32,318 voters are between 18-19 years of age which mean that they are first time voters. The number of first time voters in the Lok Sabha election was 3.37 lakh while in Delhi Assembly polls it was 4.05 lakh. Youths also constitute a big vote bank but do not form a homogeneous organised group like the other communities.
In 2003, the delimitation was conducted to realign Assembly segments of Delhi, at that time, the total electorates were 84,48,760. About more than 26,000 voters were added in the final voters’ list in 2003. Delhi has 70 Assembly constituencies, out of which 12 are reserved for Scheduled Caste. In 1993, as many as 1,316 candidates were in the fray, minimum contestants in Bawana were 8, while maximum contests in Nasirpur constituency were 45. As against 7,039 polling stations in 1993, there are 11,763 polling stations in the city.
As per the latest voters’ list published by the Election Commission on January 5, the national Capital has a total of 1,30,85,251 voters out of which 72.60 lakh are men and 58.24 lakh women. “The largest constituency in terms of number of voters is Matiala which has around 3.39 lakh voters, while the smallest is Chandni Chowk with as many as 1.12 lakh voters,” said a senior officer of Delhi unit of Election Commission.
According to Delhi electoral office report, Shakur Basti Assembly constituency has the highest gender ratio of 938 women per 1,000 men while Tughlaqabad has the lowest of 638. In 1993, male electorates were 32.37 lakh while female electorates were 26.13 lakh. But in 2015, male electorates are around 72.60 lakh and female 58.24 lakh. There is a major gap between male and female electorates now. The highest voter and population ratio is Jangpura (83.9%) while lowest is in New Delhi (47.5%) which means only less than half of the people living in New Delhi assembly segment are eligible to vote.
In comparison to the first Assembly election, the demographic scenario of Delhi has completely changed. During the first Delhi Assembly election in 1993, the share of villagers, Punjabi and traders community (bania) were dominating and were considered the king makers. It was also evident from the fact that all the political voices of the city were from these communities including the first Chief Minister Madan Lal Khurana.
But now, migrants living in unauthorised colonies and slums have taken up that position and all the political parties are focussing on them to get a majority in the Delhi Assembly elections. Presently, over 29 out of 70 Assembly segment are held by the migrant population. It was evident in the last election when Arvind Kejriwal swept this vote bank and won 28 Assembly segments. The villagers have now over 15-16 seats, Punjabis around 5-7 seats, traders (bania) have 4-5 seats and the rest are mostly a mixed population.
The data of the voters’ list also reveal that around 1,32,318 voters are between 18-19 years of age which mean that they are first time voters. The number of first time voters in the Lok Sabha election was 3.37 lakh while in Delhi Assembly polls it was 4.05 lakh. Youths also constitute a big vote bank but do not form a homogeneous organised group like the other communities.
In 2003, the delimitation was conducted to realign Assembly segments of Delhi, at that time, the total electorates were 84,48,760. About more than 26,000 voters were added in the final voters’ list in 2003. Delhi has 70 Assembly constituencies, out of which 12 are reserved for Scheduled Caste. In 1993, as many as 1,316 candidates were in the fray, minimum contestants in Bawana were 8, while maximum contests in Nasirpur constituency were 45. As against 7,039 polling stations in 1993, there are 11,763 polling stations in the city.
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