Delhi Elections: India Chief Election Commissioner, Rajiv Kumar, on Tuesday (Jan 7) announced the schedule for the Delhi assembly elections. While announcing the dates for the upcoming polls, CEC Kumar emphasised that the polling will take place mid-week, on a Wednesday, and also explained the reason behind it.

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Why hold elections on a Wednesday

According to CEC Rajiv Kumar, the decision to hold voting on a Wednesday was “deliberate”.

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Pointing to the fact that the voting for Maharashtra assembly elections was also held on a Wednesday, Kumar said, “We have deliberately kept voting on a Wednesday. We think all Delhi voters should cast their votes.”

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Voting in Maharashtra, a state in the western peninsular region of India, was held on November 20, a Wednesday, in a single phase. 

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“Like Maharashtra, we have scheduled voting on a Wednesday. The entire election process after counting will be complete by February 10,” he added.

As per Kumar, the reason why a mid-week day was chosen was to try and address “urban apathy”.

“You will notice that the date of the poll is Wednesday. This is deliberate, and we have tried that it is mid-week so that the issue of urban apathy is handled,” he added.

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What is urban apathy?

The Election Commission, as per reports, has noticed that voters in rural and remote areas participate more in comparison to the voters in cities, urban and posh areas. Voters in urban areas tend to hesitate to come out and vote.

In the 2020 Delhi assembly elections, of the 14,797,990 registered voters, only 9,295,793 showed up to vote. This year there are 1,55,24,858 registered voters.

(With inputs from agencies)