PoliticsGandhinagarAhmedabad
Evening Pulse: Gandhinagar votes, Ahmedabad detains protesters, and an open drain asks the hardest question
The capital's civic poll drew a slow turnout, about 100 people were held at an anti-CEC protest in Ahmedabad, and a child is still missing after falling into an open drain. What the day says about Gujarat's politics.
Pan India Pulse deskBased on reports from The Hans India (IANS), News On AIR, Gujarat Samachar, ThePrint (PTI)
Gujarat's capital went to the polls on Sunday, and the voters were in no hurry. Polling for the 44 seats of the Gandhinagar Municipal Corporation ran from 7 am to 6 pm, with 130 candidates from the BJP, the Congress, the AAP and independents competing for about 2.6 lakh voters across 11 wards.
By 1 pm turnout was 31.90%, according to State Election Commission data. Women were voting at a lower rate than men, 28.19% against 35.47%, and the gap between wards was wide, from 42.20% in Ward 4 to 26.09% in Ward 5. The final figure was not available at the time of writing. Okha and Thara municipalities also voted, along with by-elections for vacant seats in several other local bodies. Counting is on Tuesday, October 13. In 2021 the BJP won 41 of the 44 Gandhinagar seats.
Gujarat also felt the national voter-roll row. On Saturday evening police detained about 100 people near MJ Library and Ellisbridge in Ahmedabad as they tried to gather in support of the Cockroach Janta Party's demand that Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar resign over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. Those detained included Congress and NSUI workers, Left student groups and young people with no party label, according to reports. Organisers said they had sought permission two days earlier and been refused. No police statement was quoted in the reports we read. Whether Gujarat Congress or AAP leaders will join Monday's INDIA bloc march in Delhi was not clear from reports.
The day's most painful story was not about votes. A girl, reported as 9 or 10 years old, fell into an open drain on the Narol-Pirana road in Ahmedabad on Saturday afternoon while her mother was paying an auto-rickshaw fare. Fire, police and drainage teams searched through the night, and she had not been found by Sunday. Reports have raised questions about why the drain was open; we did not find a statement from the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation.
The national backdrop moved too. On Sunday the Supreme Court told Delhi authorities to keep metro, rail and internet services running and not to detain peaceful protesters outside the law, and the INDIA bloc plans a march in Delhi on Monday. Navratri began in Gujarat on Sunday, and police deployment for the festival will overlap with any further protests.
Pulse view
Analysis by the Pulse deskLow turnout in a capital city's civic poll tells us something. Gandhinagar is a planned city full of government workers, yet two in three voters had not voted by early afternoon. When the BJP dominates a city this strongly, many voters may feel the result is settled. That is a problem for every party, because civic bodies decide the things people touch every day.
Which brings us to Narol. City elections are, in the end, about drains, roads and water. An open drain that swallows a child is the most basic civic failure there is, and it should matter more to voters than any slogan from Delhi or Gandhinagar.
The Ahmedabad detentions were small next to Delhi or Mumbai, but they show the voter-roll anger reaching a state where the opposition is weak. The question for Gujarat: will the energy of young protesters turn into votes for any party, or stay outside party politics altogether?
What they are saying
We had sought police permission two days ago for the gathering, but were denied
We will continue the search until we find her
What to watch
- Final turnout and Tuesday's counting in Gandhinagar, Okha and Thara
- Whether the child in the Narol drain is found, and whether the AMC orders an inquiry
- Any further protests in Ahmedabad and how police respond during Navratri
- Whether Gujarat Congress or AAP leaders join Monday's Delhi march
Your take
Do you agree with the Pulse view?
Sources
- Gujarat local polls: Gandhinagar records 31.90 pc turnout after six hours of voting The Hans India (IANS)
- Gujarat local body elections: Voting underway for 44 seats in Gandhinagar Municipal Corporation News On AIR
- Gandhinagar civic polls voter turnout Gujarat Samachar
- Several detained in Ahmedabad while attempting to gather for protest seeking CEC's resignation ThePrint (PTI)
- EC-SIR stir: nearly 100 detained in Ahmedabad while attempting to gather for protest Deccan Herald
- Over 100 detained in Ahmedabad as youth, opposition protest Gyanesh Kumar Gujarat Samachar
- Nine-year-old girl falls into 20-foot-deep drain in Ahmedabad, rescue ops underway ANI
- Ahmedabad girl missing after falling into open drain Gujarat Samachar
- SIR protests: No illegal detention of those gathering peacefully, says Supreme Court Business Today