Mumbai: Rapid urbanization of Maharashtra seems to be changing the voter demography in major cities. Barring Sangli, most of the major urban cities in the state are witnessing a healthy rise in voter population in last five years. The voter population of Maharashtra which was 8.35 crore in 2014 assembly elections, has now risen by 63.01 lakhs to 8.98 crore in the 2019 assembly elections. This striking picture is noticed when one compares the 2014 voter population of the state with that of the latest voter population for the 2019 assembly polls due on October 21.
Overall at the state level, the highest rise in voter population is seen in the Panvel assembly constituency of Raigad district. The voter population here which was 4.23 lakh in 2014 has increased to 5.57 lakh in 2019 polls, a rise of 1.33 lakhs. At the extreme end, a modest rise of just 723 voters has been noticed in the Umred (SC) assembly constituency in Nagpur district. Here the voter population in 2014 which was 2,84,768, has marginally increased by 723 to 2,84,045.
Sangli assembly constituency happens to be the only assembly segment that has seen a reduction in voter population in the last five years between the two assembly elections. Here the voter population which was 3.28 lakhs in 2014 has come down by 4,463 to 3.24 lakhs in 2019 polls.
Outside of the major urban cities between Mumbai, Thane, Raigad, Nashik, Nagpur, Palghar and Pune, most of the urban constituencies of Jalgaon, Akola, Yavatmal, Amravati, Aurangabad, Kampthi, Beed, Latur, Gangapur, Gadchiroli, Deglur, Koregaon, Rajapur, Sawantwadi and Kolhapur North have seen a rise in voter population.
This rise is indicative of the migration of voters from other parts of the state to these urban constituencies, as seen in the official voter population data released by the Election Commission of India (ECI) recently. Another significant pointer to note here is that these urban constituencies are surrounded by rural areas and to an extent retain their semi-rural status. The rise in voter population here is significant and would be interesting to see whether this addition of new voters affects the final results.
The voter population of Jalgaon City constituency has risen by 64,910 to 4,01,328 in 2019. The voter population of Kampthi constituency has risen by 62,646 to 4,40,221 in 2019, The voter population of Amravati which was 2,85,514 in 2014 has risen by 60,232 to 3,45,746 in 2019. The voter population of Akola West constituency has risen by 55,787 to 3,32,220 in 2019. While the voter population of Akola East constituency has risen by 44,184 to 3,44,835 voters in 2019 polls.
The voter population of Yavatmal assembly constituency has risen by 41,237 to 3,84,935 in 2019. The Aurangabad West (SC) constituency has seen a rise in its voter population of 3,36,023 by 48,282 in 2019. While the voter population of Aurangabad East assembly constituency has seen a rise of 57,322 voters to 3,19,209 in 2019 polls. Similarly, the voter population of Gangapur assembly constituency has seen an increase by 42,062 to 3,13,553 in 2019. In Beed assembly constituency the voter population has risen by 44,469 to 3,35,965 in 2019. Likewise, in Latur City constituency, the voter population has increased by 43,947 voters to 3,72,474 in 2019.
Like Umred (SC) constituency, there are some assembly constituencies which have witnessed a modest rise in their voter population in the last five years. In Gadchiroli (ST) constituency, the voter population has increased by 8,868 to 2,86,057 in 2019. The voter population of Koregaon assembly segment has risen by 6,980 to 3,02,300. In Rajapur assembly constituency, the voter population of 2,37,887 rose by 3,730 voters.
Deglur (SC) assembly constituency saw a modest increase in voter population by 1,418 voters to 2,91,870 voters. In Sawantwadi assembly constituency, the voter population rose by 4,392 to 2,25,302 in 2019. Whereas, the voter population in Kolhapur North assembly constituency rose modestly by 1,478 voters to 2,86,265 voters for the 2019 assembly elections.
