69.38 pc exercise franchise in district
| Date :30-Apr-2019 |
(left)BJP candidate Rakesh Singh along with family members showing inked finger after voting.(right)Congress candidate Vivek Tankha along with wife showing inked finger after casting vote. (Pics by Anil Tiwari)(Bottom)FESTIVE RUSH: People waiting for their turn at one of the polling centres to be a part of the biggest festival of democracy on Monday.
Staff Reporter:
District administration and police had made elaborate arrangements for free and fair elections n A few EVMs had developed some snag but were rectified immediately
DESPITE scorching heat, people in good numbers enthusiastically turned up at polling booths to exercise their right to vote. Nearly 69.38 per cent voters exercised their franchise in the district on Monday. This time great zeal was witnessed among voters of all age groups. Voters thronged booths early to start the polling process. They made long queues at the centres. Most of the morning walkers returned home after casting vote. First-time voters and elderly people showed great enthusiasm as they voted their favourite candidate early in the morning.
Many polling booths registered over 30 per cent voting within two hours of start of polling. People also cast vote in large numbers in the last hour of polling. Even after 6 pm, voters were found standing in long queues at polling centres and voting continued at many booths after scheduled time. Polling in all eight assemblies of the district remained peaceful. Though a few electronic voting machines (EVMs) had reportedly malfunctioned but were rectified immediately. The district administration and police had made elaborate and foolproof arrangements for free and fair elections. Special forces were deployed at polling centres to tackle any situation.
Apart from that additional security arrangements were made at critical and vulnerable polling centres to avoid unpleasant situation. To ensure smooth conduction of election process and maintain law and order situation, the administration has deployed over 12,000 officials and employees on election duty. As many as 164 sector officers were deputed to keep an eye on activities at polling booths in all eight assemblies of the district. They have been bestowed with Magisterial power. With voting process complete, fate of 22 candidates in fray has been sealed in EVMs and will be declared after counting of votes on May 23. After voting, polling teams started coming back to the headquarters.
A number of teams reached MLA School and submitted EVMs and VVPAT machines to presiding officers late in the night on Monday. It is expected that all polling teams will return by Tuesday evening. Out of total 18,18,104 voters, including 8,77,874 women, 9,40,149 men and 81 third gender, nearly 70 per cent exercised their right to franchise at 2,128 booths set up in all eight assemblies of the district. Besides, 1,779 service voters were provided with ballot papers to cast vote through Electronically Transmitted Postal Ballot System (ETPBS) during election duty. For convenience of voters, the Election Commission this time has allowed people to cast vote without Elector Photo Identity Card if they have name in the voters’ list. The Election Commission has authorised 11 documents for identification if the voters have voters’ slip, distributed through BLOs.
The administration had established 217 all women booths for convenience of women voters. Likewise, it had set up 8 Sugam polling centres for divyang and 8 model polling booths with best facilities. The Election Commission constantly monitored election process through direct webcasting at 185 polling booths while activities were recorded through CCTV cameras at 241 polling centres in the district. For the first time Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) machines were used along with electronic voting machines (EVMs) in Lok Sabha elections.
Voting was done on 2,557 control units of EVM and 2,429 VVPAT machines. Polling was conducted at total 2,128 polling booths including 303 polling booths in Patan Assembly, 284 booths in Bargi, 224 booths in Jabalpur East, 241 booths in Jabalpur North, 213 booths in Jabalpur Cantt, 275 booths in Jabalpur West, 306 booths in Panagar and 282 polling booths in Sihora Assembly. As many as 22 candidates are in fray including Rakesh Singh (Bharatiya Janata Party), Vivek Krishna Tankha (Indian National Congress), Kuldeep Ahirwar (Republican Party of India-A), Chandra Prakash Bhatnagar (Aarakshan Virodhi Party), Devendra Kumar Yadav (Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party), Bhushan Prasad Shukla (Bharatiya Shakti Chetna Party), Mahu Singh Paraste (Gondwana Gantantra Party), Shahnaz Bi Ansari (Smart Indians Party), Sukhdev Dahia (Bharatiya Jan Sampark Party) while independent candidates are Amjad Khan, Ashok Singh Lodhi, Gulab Singh alias Vivek, Dr Dhai Akshar, Dhanuk, Rakesh Singh, Rakesh Singh, Ramdayal Prajapat, Roopram Singh, Laxminarayan, Jagannath Singh Lodhi, Vinay Kumar Jain and Shri Lal Markam.