Voting in elections at any level is very important. India follows the First-past-the-post (FPTP) system of voting. In the FPTP voting system, even one vote can produce a result. In India, at least three times, the poll verdict is by a margin of just one vote. Though all these elections were of the Assembly, even one vote can produce the Lok Sabha election verdict. As per known information from the Lok Sabha election 1998 in the Rajmahal Lok Sabha seat in the erstwhile State of Bihar, the poll verdict was by just a margin of 8 votes. These examples are enough to demonstrate why everyone should vote. Every person should consider that his vote will decide the poll.
Some seats are known for high voting turnout, and some are for low voting. In the 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Dhubri Lok Sabha’s seat in Assam witnessed high voting turnout. This seat is a Muslim-dominated seat and also shares a border with Bangladesh. Badruddin Ajmal of AIUDF is representing this seat. Since 1952, from the first Lok Sabha election, this seat has been represented by Muslims only. Muslim-dominated Lok Sabha seats are known for high voter turnout. Firstly, if Dhubri follows the Assam, Lok Sathe bha seats, then Barpeta Lok Sabha seats in voting per cent. Barpeta Lok Sabha seat is also known for high Muslim concentration, and barring four occasions, the seat is always represented by Muslims only. Lok Sabha seat also has a high voting turnout of 83 per cent and is known for its Muslim concentration.
In Bihar, the Seemanchal area is known for its high concentration of Muslims. Kishanganj, Katihar, Purnia and Araria are the Lok Sabha seats in this region. In two previous Lok Sabha elections, this region’s seats established a comfortable margin in voting per cent concerning the rest of the seats in Bihar. Since this region is plagued by high migration due to floods and other livelihood issues, this region has little less voting than Muslim-dominated areas of Assam and Bengal. In Bihar, if we compare the voting percentage of these seats in 2009, 2014, and 2019, we will observe a significant change in voter turnout. In Katihar in 2009. Fifty-seven per cent was the voting, which increased to 67 per cent in 2014 and 2019, an increase of 10 per cent. In Kishanganj in 2009, the voting percentage was nearly 53 per cent, which increased to nearly 65 and 66 per cent in 2014 and 2019. Araria Lok Sabha’s seat had nearly 56 per cent voting in 2009, which increased to nearly 62 and 65 per cent in the consequent Lok Sabha elections. The Purnia seat has a story similar to that of other Bihar seats. In 2009, in the Purnia Lok Sabha seat, the voting percentage was 54, which increased to nearly 64 and 65 per cent in the 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
West Bengal and Tripura States have a good track record of high voting percentages. West Bengal State Lok Sabha seats are Muslim-dominated, and non-Muslim-dominated seats have nearly comparable voting percentages, barring urban areas like Kolkata city and its nearby Lok Sabha seats. High voting has been the trend and tradition in West Bengal and Tripura since the Communist Party’s time.
Lakshadweep is one of the Union Territories (UT) in India. The seat has nearly 95 per cent of Muslim voters. The seat witnesses the highest voting turnout among all the UTs. In this seat in the 2019 Lok Sabha election, the BJP got its lowest vote share among all the contested seats. The BJP got 125 votes on this seat in 2019.
In Uttar Pradesh, the Lok Sabha seats having high Muslim concentration are known for a higher voting pattern than that of others. Amroha Lok Sabha’s seat had the highest vote among all the seats in UP in 2019. Saharanpur, Muzaffarnagar, Kairana, Bijnor, Moradabad, and Sambhal are the seats that also have high voting percentages. In Uttar Pradesh, if we consider the high voting percentage of the first 10 seats, then only the Jhansi Lok Sabha seat is the exception; otherwise, all seats are Muslim dominated. Amroha Lok Sabha’s seat in 2009 had 60 per cent voting; in 2014 and 2019, the voting percentage increased to 71 per cent. Muzaffarnagar Lok Sabha seat had nearly 54 per cent voting in 2009, which increased to nearly 70 per cent in 2014 and 2019. Saharanpur Lok Sabha seat has nearly 63 per cent voting, which increased to 70 per cent in subsequent Lok Sabha elections. Moradabad Lok Sabha seat had nearly 55 per cent voting in 2009, which increased to nearly 64 and 65 per cent in 2014 and 2019. Kairana Lok Sabha seat had nearly 57 per cent of the voting in 2009, which increased to 73 and 67 per cent in 2014 and 2019.
There has been a significant change in the voting patterns on Muslim-dominated seats after 2014 since Narendra Modi’s projection as the Prime Ministerial candidate of the BJP. In the 2009 Lok Sabha election, Dhubri Lok Sabha seat had 76.31 per cent of voting, which escalated to 88.36 per cent in 2014 and 90.66 per cent in 2019. Another Muslim-dominated Lok Sabha seat in Assam, Barpeta, has a similar trend. In the 2009 Lok Sabha poll, the seat had 72.70 per cent of the vote, which increased to nearly 85 and 87 per cent in the 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Nowgong Lok Sabha’s seat in Assam had nearly 71 per cent voting in the 2009 Lok Sabha election, which increased to nearly 81 and 83 per cent in the subsequent Lok Sabha elections.
Muslim-dominated Lok Sabha seats in West Bengal, such as Murshidabad, Jangipur, Maldaha Uttar, Maldaha Dakshin, and Baharampur, had similar voting trends in the 2009 and consequent Lok Sabha elections. These seats had nearly 80 per cent of the average voting.
On many Muslim-dominated seats, women and men voters are more or less the same. On many such seats, Muslim women surpassed their male counterparts in voting.
