Phase-II of LS polls: Rains step aside as people pour in to vote
| Date :19-Apr-2019 |
The Hitavada Team:
Around 60% voting registered
EVMs malfunction at many places, machines replaced immediately
AS IF weather also understood well the importance of the day, a bright sun greeted voters on Thursday morning after couple of days of windy, rainy weather. As people in three districts of Amravati, Akola and Buldana and Umarkhed Assembly constituency poured in to cast their vote in the second phase of the general elections to Lok Sabha (LS), rains made way for enthusiastic voting. Around 60 per cent voting was registered in the region, though accurate figures would be available on Friday. However, looking at the queues at polling booths at many places even at 6 pm, the final figures might see improvement. Amravati: About 60 per cent of polling was registered in Amravati Lok Sabha (LS) constituency at 2,000 polling booths in six Assembly segments on Thursday.
(Left 1) Bharatiya Janata Party-Shiv Sena candidate Sanjay Dhotre along with his family after casting his vote in Akola. (Right) Harshwardhan Sapkal along with his family after casting vote.(Right 1) Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi’s Adv Prakash Ambedkar after excercising his vote in Akola.
(Left 2)
In rest of the cities too, people defying old age or circumstances made their way to polling booths to take part in the democratic process.
The polling was peaceful and no untoward incident was reported in the district. Voters sealed the fate of 24 candidates by casting their votes. The polling started on a slow pace in the morning and gained speed after two hours. Till 1 pm, 33.73 per cent average polling was registered in the district. Melghat Assembly segment topped the chart till 1 pm while Badnera was at the bottom with only 29.80 per cent polling. Voters from urban areas came out enthusiastically for polling in Amravati and Badnera Assembly constituencies. In Melghat, Achalpur and other rural dominated areas, polling gained speed in the afternoon. By 3 pm, average 45.47 per cent polling was registered in Amravati Lok Sabha constituency with Melghat maintaining top position with 51.94 per cent polling while Badnera stood in the bottom with just 39.77 per cent of polling.
The polling in rural areas is very good as compared to urban areas and experts believe that it can prove crucial in the result. As per a statement released by DIO, 55.27 per cent polling was recorded by 5 pm and it is expected to reach 60 per cent in the end. As per figures released by DIO, maximum 62.91 per cent of polling was registered in Melghat Assembly constituency while Badnera stood at the bottom with just 48.49 per cent polling.
Similarly, 50.01 per cent polling was registered in Amravati, 55.16 pc in Teosa, 58.53 in Daryapur and 59.55 per cent was registered in Achalpur Assembly constituency. The polling parties from distant areas, especially from remote stations in Melghat region will reach District headquarters in the wee hours of Friday and the final reports could be ascertained only after that, officials informed.
The polling was held amidst tight security arrangement and no untoward incident was reported in the district. However, there were a few complaints about technical problems in EVMs but those were resolved immediately. Akola: PEOPLE in five Assembly segments in the district - Akot, Balapur, Akola East, Akola West, Murtijapur and Risod in Washim district cast their franchise for Akola Lok Sabha constituency elections held on Thursday. The constituency registered 54.73 per cent polling till 5 pm on Thursday. Of the total 18,64,544 registered voters, 10,18,873 had exercised their franchise till 5 pm. Akot Assembly constituency registered the highest of 61.32 per cent voting, followed by Balapur- 58.49 pc, Risod - 54.92 pc, Murtijapur - 53.53 pc, Akola (East) - 53.34 pc, and Akola (West) - 48.10 pc, till 5 pm. Sitting MP Sanjay Dhotre of BJP-Shiv Sena alliance, Hadayat Ulla Patel of Congress-NCP alliance and Adv Prakash Ambedkar of Vanchit Bahujan Agahdi were the top contestants. Besides them, B C Kamble of Bahujan Samaj Party, Arun Wankhade of People’s Party of India, Pravina Bhatkar of Bahujan Mukti Party, Gajanan Harane (Independent), Muralidhar Pawar (Independent), Arun Thakare (Independent), Pravin Kaurpuriya (Independent) and Sachin Sharma (Independent) are in fray from the constituency. About 45.39 per cent polling was registered by 3 pm in the constituency. Overall polling process ran smoothly barring two incidents of technical problems with EVM machines. The EVM machines at Solbardi polling station in Akot Assembly constituency and Ridhora in Akola West constituency developed some technical snag during polling in the early hours of polling.
The machines were replaced within an hour. Sanjay Dhotre, Hidayat Patel cast their votes in the morning hours, while Adv Prakash Ambedkar exercised franchise in the afternoon. Guardian Minister Ranjit Patil, MLAs Randhir Sawarkar, Gowardhan Sharma, Harish Pimple, Prakash Bharsakle and Gopikisan Bajoriya also cast their votes in the morning hours. Notably, divyang voters showed much enthusiasm to cast their votes at many polling booths.
There were 5,086 physically challenged voters registered in the constituency. Adequate facilities were provided to these voters at all polling stations. Buldana: Over 60 per cent voters cast their votes in Buldana district. Though the percentage till 5 pm was 57.10, long queues of voters still be seen at polling booths at 6 pm. With good amount of polling being done in the last leg, the final figures would obviously improve with some predicting poll percentage to be around 63 per cent. In the polling till 5 pm, 57.10 pc voting was registered. These included 50.42 per cent in Buldana, 56 pc in Chikhli, 57.2 per cent in Sindkhedraja, 58.85 per cent in Mehkar, 56 pc in Deulgaonraja, 60.15 pc in Khamgaon and 60.50 pc in Jalgaon Jamod. No untoward incident was reported from anywhere in the constituency. Though, EVMs developed technical snag at some places causing inconvenience.
It was a heartening sight to see elders as old as 102 years and new voters coming to exercise their vote enthusiastically. So did physically challenged people in the district. Umarkhed: Polling percentage at Hingoli Lok sabha constituency of Marathwada reached 56.36 per cent till 5 pm on Thursday. There polling percentage is expected to increase to 60-62 per cent. The final figures will be out late on Thursday, informed the returning officer. The 35 villages in Painganga sanctuary area in Umarkhed taluka tuned up to the voting centres in large numbers. The villagers of these villages earlier had decided to boycott voting as their demands remained pending since the country’s Independence. However, later Yavatmal Collector Ajay Gulhane held a meeting at Morchandi village and discussed the problems of people. He assured to fulfill all their demands. Later, the villagers withdrew their decision to boycott polls.