Though the final figure of voting for the polls of Municipal Councils and Nagar Panchayats has not come officially, according to sources, it is likely to reach 60%, considering the official number from the Government till 3.30 pm. Voters peacefully exercised their right to vote for a total of 27 Municipal Council and Nagar Panchayat elections, including 15 Municipal Councils and 12 Nagar Panchayats in Nagpur district. The Election Department took all precautions to ensure that the voters were provided with the necessary services and facilities for voting at all polling stations. Special pink booths set up for women in each Municipal Council and Nagar Panchayat area gave added confidence to female voters.

 

 

A total of 45.95 per cent voting was recorded till 3.30 pm. In all, 3,35,377 voters exercised their right to vote for these elections. The number of male voters is 1,68,378 and the number of female voters is 1,66, 999. At the beginning, 7.95 per cent voting was recorded between 7.30 am and 9.30 am. For the Umred Municipal Council elections, toys kept for children in the pink booth decorated at Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Bhavan, and a ‘Hirkani’ room specially set up for breastfeeding were eye-catching. Voters in each Municipal Council area preferred to vote peacefully. For this voting, 853 polling stations were prepared in the district with necessary security. About 6,250 officers and employees have been appointed for this election. About 1,776 ballot units have been made ready at a total of 853 polling stations. AMRAVATI: Voters in Amravati district participated enthusiastically in the voting for 9 Municipal Councils and 2 Nagar Panchayat elections on Tuesday. Owing to the cold weather, polling started at a slow pace in the morning but picked up significantly after noon.

 

Till 3.30 pm, voter turnout had reached 49.80 percent, and officers estimate that the final turnout may touch around 65 percent. The Election Department is expected to release the final figures late tonight. Polling across the district remained peaceful. Voting began smoothly from morning across 9 Municipal Councils and 2 Nagar Panchayats in the district, excluding Anjangaon Surji Municipal Council of which election postponed just few days back. Elections were held in Achalpur, Warud, Morshi, Daryapur, Chikhaldara, Shendurjana Ghat, Chandur Railway, Chandur Bazar and Dhamangaon Railway Municipal Councils, along with Dharni and Nandgaon Khandeshwar Nagar Panchayats. Dharni Nagar Panchayat recorded the slowest voting pace with just 46 percent turnout till the afternoon. In contrast, Chikhaldara Municipal Council witnessed an enthusiastic response with 73.79 percent polling registered till 3.30 p.m.

 

Turnout in other Municipal Councils includes 48.70 percent at Achalpur whereas, 48.47 percent at Warud, 49.91 percent at Daryapur, 50.30 percent at Morshi, 57.76 percent at Shendurjana Ghat, 46.44 percent at Chandur Railway, 45.41 percent at Chandur Bazar, 51.59 percent at Dhamangaon Railway Municipal Council While at Nandgaon Khandeshwar Nagar Panchayat 55.26 percent voting was recorded till 3.30 pm. Long queues of voters were visible at several polling centres late in the evening, indicating that the final turnout may climb further. Polling stations were equipped with necessary amenities to facilitate voters. Many newlyweds, brides, grooms and wedding parties were seen casting their votes before heading to wedding ceremonies. Some voters expressed dissatisfaction over missing names in the electoral rolls, while a few polling stations reported minor glitches in Contd from page 1 voting machines. However, district officers addressed these issues promptly. Tight security arrangements were maintained at all polling booths to ensure peaceful voting.

 

NANDGAON KHANDESHWAR: A total of 8,824 voters exercised their franchise in the Nandgaon Khandeshwar Nagar Panchayat elections. The overall voter turnout stood at 73.3 percent. The election officers reported that the polling process remained peaceful and orderly throughout the day. During the voting period, the District Collector visited several polling stations and reviewed the ongoing voting procedures. CHANDRAPUR: Around 40 percent of voting was registered for local body election held at nine Municipal Councils and Bhisi Nagar Panchayat till 3.30 pm on Tuesday. Meanwhile, the cops had detained a citizen for destroying EVM at Gadchandur in Chandrapur distict on Tuesday. The polling was conducted at nine Municipal Councils including Brahmapuri, Bhadravati, Nagbhid, Chimur, Rajura, Ballarpur, Gadchandur, Warora, Mul and Bhisi Nagar Panchayat on Tuesday. The citizens from Bramhapuri, Bhadravati, Nagbhid, Chimur, Rajura, Ballarpur, Gadchandur, Warora, Mul and Bhisi Nagar Panchayat. Meanwhile, Chandpur-Wani-Arni Lok Sabha constituency MP Pratibha Dhanorkar cast her vote in Lokmanya Vidyalaya in Warora on Tuesday morning.

 

While interacting with the mediapersons she said that voting is a right given by the Constitution and every citizen should vote and be a part of democracy. The former MLA from Rajura and District Congress Chief Subhash Dhote also reached the polling station at Rajura and cast his vote. The police have detained a youth who tampered with the voting machine at polling station 9/2 in ward number 9 at Gadchandur. The district administration took immediate action and replaced the damaged ballot unit and started the voting smoothly. The citizen has been identified as Vivek Mallesh Durge, a resident of Gadchandur and while voting at polling station number 9/2 in Gadchandur, he allegedly tried to damage the ballot unit. The police present at the polling station quickly detained. WASHIM: Voting for the municipal councils of Risod, Karanja and Mangrulpir, along with the Malegaon Nagar Panchayat, was reported peaceful in Washim district. Polling began at 7.30 am, with voters queueing early at several booths. Senior citizens, persons with disabilities and first-time voters participated with notable enthusiasm. In Risod, 105-year-old Chandrabhaga Mallika Arjun Malekar arrived to cast her vote.

 

Similarly, in Malegaon, 103-year-old Subaravi Ghulam Husain exercised her franchise. By 3.30 pm, a total of 69,128 votes had been cast, marking a district-wide turnout of 46.53 percent. Risod Municipal Council recorded 15,684 votes with a voting percentage of 52.35. Mangrulpir witnessed 13,325 voters casting their ballots, marking 45.76 percent turnout. In Karanja, 30,472 voters participated, resulting in 43.33 percent polling. Malegaon Nagar Panchayat recorded 9,647 votes, equivalent to 50.33 percent turnout. District Collector Yogesh Kumbhejkar monitored polling process throughout the day. No untoward incidents were reported. The official and final turnout percentage is expected later in the evening. BULDHANA: Voting for the local civic bodies was largely peaceful in the district. However, Buldhana reported four cases of bogus voting.

 

The alleged involvement of MLA Sanjay Gaikwad’s son in helping a bogus voter led to quick political reactions. Meanwhile, voting was conducted peacefully in 9 out of 10 municipal areas of the district and the average voter turnout was approximately 70 percent. Voters of all ages turned up at the polling booths. Voters in Muslim and Dalit dominated wards especially showed great enthusiasm for voting. Till 3:30 pm, the voting percentage in municipal councils of the district was as follows: Buldhana (39.39), Chikhli (43.37), Jalgaon Jamod (50.55), Khamgaon (48.26), Lonar (49.51), Malkapur (56.49), Mehkar (55.79), Nadunra (51.85), Shegaon (49.94), Sindkhedraja (59.80). An average (49.04) percent voting was conducted till 3.30 pm. The highest voting was in Sindkhedraja (approximately 82 percent) followed by Mehkar (approximately 73.36 percent).

 

The lowest in Buldhana, the district headquarters. YAVATMAL: The elections to nine municipal council and one Nagar panchayat in Yavatmal district were held peacefully on Tuesday. An average of 45.53 percent voting was recorded in the district till 3.30 pm. Poll percentage recorded till 3.30 pm in various MC is: Umarkhed (44.25), Pusad (39.56), Digras (48.94), Darwha (47.48), Ner (46.78), Arni (45.11), Pandharkawada (45.24), Ghatanji (46.71), Wani (46.55) and at Dhanki Nagar Panchayat (57.19). Former minister Manohar Naik exercised his franchise at Pusad along with Minister Indranil Naik and other family members. Guardian Minister Sanjay Rathod voted at Darwha’s Prabhag No 8. GONDIA: Voters turned up at polling booths to elect 98 councillors and 4 civic chiefs in Gondia and Tirora municipal councils and Goregaon and and Salekasa nagar panchayats in Gondia District on Tuesday. As per the figures that came in at 3.30 pm, Gondia district had recorded 45.54 percent voting.

 

The voting percentage in Gondia MC was 42.01 and in Tirora it was 45.51. For Goregaon NP, till 3.30 pm, the poll percentage was 68.65 and in Salekasa NP it was the highest in the district, 80.75 percent. BHANDARA: Polling also done for four MCs-Bhandara, Tumsar, Paoni and Sakoli in the district and 46.28 percent voting was recorded till 3.30 pm. The poll process was held peacefully, barring a couple of incidents where the elector unit was required to be changed due to technical snag . Til 3.30 pm, the highest poll percentage was recorded in Paoni MC (54.22) and lowest (41.99) in Bhandara MC . AKOLA: Voter turnout across fivemunicipal councils in the district is expected to cross 60 percent, though the final figures were not available at the time of filing this report. According to official information, 51.93 percent voting had been recorded till 3:30 p.m. Polling for local self governing bodies in Akot, Murtijapur, Telhara, Hiwarkhed and Barshitakli was held on Tuesday. Polling for Balapur council was deffered till December 20 by order. Intially, the pace of turnout was slow but at 11.30 am overall voting was recorded at 21.25%. Gradually, it increased to 34.59% at 1.30 pm and reached 51.31 % at 3.30 pm. Total 474 presiding and polling officers worked for the smooth polling. 

 

 

The Nagpur Division bench of the Bombay High Court comprising Justice Anil Kilor and Justice Rajnish Vyas on Tuesday directed the Maharashtra State Election Commission (SEC) to hold the counting of votes for all the local body polls on December 21, instead of December 3. The court also prohibited exit polls until December 20. The HC’s directive came on a day when voting was underway for elections to 264 Municipal Councils and Nagar Panchayats in Maharashtra. The SEC, last week, rescheduled the polls in 24 local bodies to December 20 due to certain apparent irregularities in the process. The High Court was hearing a bunch of petitions challenging the SEC’s November 29 revised schedule. One of the petitions challenged the postponement of polls for one division of the Chandrapur Municipal Council to December 20. But the revised programme has permitted polling and declaration of results for the remaining 26 wards and the counting to proceed as per the original schedule. However, one of the petitioners, social activist Sachin Chute, pleaded that the declaration of results should ‘be conducted on a single date and not in a staggered or bifurcated manner’.

 

The petition claimed that the poll body’s order ‘violated the fundamental principle that elections must be free, fair and provide a level-playing field to all candidates’. Chute’s lawyer, Yash Kullarwar, argued that results for all wards should be declared simultaneously. Senior lawyer Adv Firdos Mirza, appeared for one of the petitioners. The High Court will further hear the petitions against the SEC’s revised election programme on December 10. The first phase of voting for 264 Municipal Councils and Nagar Panchayats was underway on Tuesday. However, elections to 24 local bodies were postponed to December 20 in view of judicial appeals filed against the decisions of Returning Officers following the scrutiny of nomination papers. The SEC’s decision, announced on Saturday, comes in light of irregularities observed in the election process of some local bodies, including the timeline for withdrawal of nominations and allocation of election symbols.

 

The SEC said, in several cases, the appeal verdicts from the District Court were delivered after November 22, or in some instances, candidates did not get the three-day period to withdraw nomination papers as per Rule 17(1)(b) of the Maharashtra Municipalities Election Rules, 1966. As a result, the subsequent action of allocating election symbols on or after November 26 by returning officers was deemed illegal in these cases. The SEC has therefore stayed (postponed) the current election process in such affected civic bodies.