New Delhi, March 12: General Elections 2009 witnessed voter turnout above 58 percent. Voters wise big States like UP, Bihar, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, MP, Gujarat had turnout well below the national average of 58.19 %. The biggest state, UP had a voter turnout of 47.78%, more than 10 percentage points lower while Bihar had just 44.46 %. Lowest voter turnout, 39.68%, was registered in J&K. Gujarat with 47.9% and Rajasthan with 48.4% voter turnout were amid top five states with lowest voter turnout. Maharashtra, Jharkhand and MP also had voter turnout lower than the national average, with 50.71%, 50.98% and 51.16 % respectively.
On the other hand, North Eastern states had very good voter turnout except Mizoram (51.8%). Nagaland had highest turnout of 89.99% followed by Tripura (84.45%) and Sikkim (83.76%). West Bengal also had very good turnout of 81.4%. Southern states had an impressive voter turnout with Kerala at73.36%, Tamil Nadu at 73.03% and Andhra Pradesh at 72.63 %. Karnataka was just above the national average with 58.81%.
Among Union Territories, only Delhi had a voter turnout lower than the national average with 51.85% voters casting their votes in the national capital. Lakshadweep with 85.9% voter turnout was first amongst UTs and second overall according to the pib released.(SP News)
