The voting patterns of India’s biggest cities: What data shows

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Mint analysis shows. On the flip side, the Congress’ vote share declined from 26% in 2009 to 15% and 18% in the following two elections. The analysis is based on constituencies in six of India’s largest cities—Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Hyderabad, and Bengaluru—which accounted for nearly 6% of all registered electors in the 2019 election.

Did the metro city constituencies drive election results in any different direction? In 2009, these metros were slightly less enthusiastic about the Congress than the rest of India: while the party got 28.6% votes overall, in metros, its share was 25.9%. However, in 2014 and 2019, the metros’ preference for the winning party (BJP) was almost in line with the overall picture. The ‘none of the above’ option, which was introduced in a Lok Sabha election for the first time in 2014, has not found too many takers in these cities, getting just 0.9% and 1% vote share in 2014 and 2019, respectively.

This was almost in line with the national figure of 1.1% each in these two election years. Despite this growing affinity for the BJP, the stranglehold of the party is weak in some metros. While BJP managed impressive wins in Bengaluru, Delhi and Mumbai in 2019, it had a tough fight in cities such as Kolkata, where it struggled to win not even a single seat in 2019.

In Chennai, where it contested in alliance with the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, the winner in all three seats was the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK). Overall, the BJP clinched victory in 14 of 30 metro seats analysed, followed by the All India Trinamool Congress and DMK with eight and three seats, respectively, in 2019. Currently, one of the 30 seats is vacant.