Mumbai: The long held traditional belief that the two district’s of Mumbai and neighbouring Thane district alone accounted for the significant urban voter population. That stature has been snatched away by Palghar and Raigad district’s which have recorded the highest growth in voter population in the state, when one compares the official voter populations of 2014 and latest 2019 voter population figures released by Election Commission of India (ECI). The two assembly constituencies that have recorded the highest growth in voter population are – Nalasopara in Palghar district and Panvel in Raigad district.
The rise in voter demographics in Nalasopara and Panvel assembly constituencies indicates a mix of new voters or those who have migrated to these two constituencies. Barring Pune, where some assembly constituencies which have seen decrease in voter population, the rest of other urban areas of Nagpur, Nashik, Palghar and Raigad have registered significant growth than Mumbai and Thane district’s.
The highest increase in voter population of 1,33,793 has been recorded in Panvel assembly constituency of Raigad district. Here the latest 2019 voter population stands at 5,57,507, whereas the total voter population in 2014 was 4,23,714. The second highest increase in voter population of 1,22,926 has been recorded in Nalasopara assembly constituency of Palghar district. Here the latest 2019 voter population stands at 5,19,160, whereas the total voter population in 2014 was 3,96,234.
Another significant fact is that besides Nalasopara and Panvel most of the rise in the voter population in Palghar and Raigad district’s is witnessed in urban constituencies of – Boisar (ST) in Palghar district (rise by 63,021 to 3,15,434), and in Karjat (rise by 39,234 to 2,82,310) and Uran (rise by 40,202 to 2,94,194) constituencies in Raigad district. The total rise voter population of all the six assembly constituencies of Palghar district today is by 2,90,706 voters to 19,51,978 voters. Whereas, the rise of 2,82,623 voters has been recorded in the seven assembly constituencies of Raigad district. The overall voter population of all the seven assembly constituencies in Raigad district today is 2,84,842 voters.
Barring Nagpur Central and Nagpur West assembly constituencies, the rest of the assembly constituencies of – Nagpur South-West, Nagpur South, Nagpur East and Nagpur North (SC) have seen a significant rise in voter population. Overall all the six assembly constituencies have registered a growth of 2,35,735 voters. The voter population in all these six assembly seats in 2019 stands at 22,10,326, while the voter population in 2014 was 19,74,591 voters.
Nagpur South-West assembly constituency of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has seen a rise in voter population by 43,152 to 3,84,355 voters. The significant rise in other assembly constituencies of Nagpur city is as follows – Nagpur South – by 40,328 to 3,82,490, Nagpur East – by 44,567 to 3,71,967 and Nagpur North (SC) – by 46,619 to 3,84,742.
Nashik is another district, where significant rise in voter population of 4,55,561 has been recorded. The voter population in all the 15 assembly constituencies recorded in 2019 is 45,53,607, whereas in 2014 it was 40,98,046 lakh voters. The significant rise in assembly constituencies in Nashik is as follows – Malegaon Central – by 50,390 to 2,96,749, Malegaon Outer – by 41,004 to 3,41,615 and Nashik West – by 66,160 to 4,01,795. However, a modest rise of 9,933 voters has been registered in Nashik Central where the voter population today is 3,19,566 voters.
However, in 21 assembly constituencies coming under Pune district, a decrease in voter population has been noticed in Pimpri (SC) and Pune Cantonment (SC) assembly constituencies. The voter population in Pimpri (SC) constituency has come down by 28,984 to 3,53,688. Whereas, in Pune Cantonment (SC) constituency the voter population has come down by a mere 666 voters to 2,91,454 voters. The total voter population in all the 21 assembly constituencies has increased by 7,97,461 voters, from 69,37,553 in 2014 to 77,35,014 voters in 2019.
Significant increase of 44,372 has been recorded in Khed Alandi assembly constituency where the voter population rose from 2,83,246 to 3,27,618 voters in 2019. Other significant increase in voter populations in some assembly constituencies are as follows – Shirur – rise by 73,854 voters to 3,84,323 voters in 2019, Purandar – rise by 62,366 to 3,62,150, Bhor – rise by 43,574 to 3,61,734, Maval – rise by 54,995 to 3,48,581, Bhosari – rise by 77,717 to 4,41,268, Kothrud – rise by 56,012 to 4,04,858, Khadakwasala – rise by 58,708 to 4,87,104 and Hadapsar – rise by 87,427 voters to 5,04,259 voters.
