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Lok Sabha elections: 63% turnout as 10 Maharashtra seats vote in Phase 2

During the mock poll, which is held before the start of actual polling, glitches were reported in 309 ballet units, 206 control units and 544 VVPATs. “But these machines were replaced immediately. During the day, glitches were reported in 104 ballet units, 91 control units and 195 VVPATs,” said Shinde.

Lok Sabha elections: 63% turnout as 10 Maharashtra seats vote in Phase 2 A polling officer puts indelible ink mark on the finger of a voter (AP Photo)

MAHARASHTRA RECORDED an average voting percentage of 63 on Thursday during the second phase of the Lok Sabha elections in 10 constituencies of Vidarbha, Marathwada and Solapur.

Officials from the Chief Electoral Office said that approximately 63 per cent voting was recorded till 6 pm, which is a little higher compared to the figure of 62.6 per cent in 2014. However, officials said the percentage is likely to increase as the final figures are yet to arrive.

“Voting went on late in some places as people were waiting in queues. The average voting percentage is an approximate figure and it is certainly higher than last time. There was enthusiasm among voters in the first two hours,” said Additional Chief Electoral Officer Dilip Shinde.

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Along with Solapur in south-west Maharashtra, Buldhana, Akola and Amravati in Vidarbha and Hingoli, Nanded, Parbhani, Beed, Osmanabad and Latur in Marathwada voted on Thursday.

Shinde said that barring a few incidents, voting was peaceful in all constituencies. “In Parbhani, stones were pelted at a police vehicle but it did not impact polling as it happened away from the polling centre… Nowhere voting was stopped,” he added.

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Shinde further said that a case has been registered against one person, Pranav Patil, who was streaming the voting process live on Facebook. “The incident took place in Osmanabad and a case has been registered under the Representation of the People Act and the IPC,” he added.

During the mock poll, which is held before the start of actual polling, glitches were reported in 309 ballet units, 206 control units and 544 VVPATs. “But these machines were replaced immediately. During the day, glitches were reported in 104 ballet units, 91 control units and 195 VVPATs,” said Shinde.

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Vanchit Bahujan Agadhi (VBA) leader Prakash Ambedkar alleged that in at least four polling booths of Solapur — from where the Dalit leader contested — if the voters pressed the button alongside VBA on the EVM, the vote invariably went to BJP.

When asked, Shinde claimed, “No such incident has taken place in Solapur. The district collector has sent a report after conducting a probe. Besides, no complaint has been registered with us. The representatives of all the parties were there and they should have objected immediately.”

In Solapur, 149 VVPAT machines developed glitches as polling began in the morning. District Collector Rajendra Bhosale said the malfunctioning VVPAT machines were replaced within 15 to 20 minutes, following which polling restarted. He said that of the 1,926 polling booths, 149 were affected.

Deputy Election Officer Snehal Bhosale said some VVPATs malfunctioned during mock polling undertaken at 6 am. “Some others failed after polling started. All the machines were quickly replaced.”

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Interestingly, in these 10 constituencies, 87 of 20,716 polling centres were completely managed by women. “Live web casting was held in 2,129 polling centres and 1,641 polling centres were videographed,” said Shinde. Meanwhile, a special drive by district authorities in Akola ensured that almost 80 per cent of pregnant women in the district managed to exercise their franchise from other regions, including foreign countries, are finding their way through this route. Unscrupulous and anti-national elements are using the route as a conduit for hawala money, drugs and weapons, under the garb of this trade,” the Home Ministry spokesperson said.

Another official cited the recent NIA probe against separatist leaders. “Proceeds from trade across the LoC are being used to finance terrorist activities in the Valley,” the official said.

Meanwhile, former chief minister and NC vice president Omar Abdullah said in a series of tweets that the Centre has “sacrificed” the “legacy” of former prime minister A B Vajpayee.

“Sadly Vajpayee Sahib’s legacy of cross LoC CBMs & the resolution of the Kashmir issue within the framework of ‘insaniyat, jumhuriyat & Kashmiriyat’ is being sacrificed at the altar of opportunistic populism,” Abdullah tweeted.

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“The Modi Govt buries another of the Vajpayee era CBMs. Cross LoC trade was a legacy of the Vajpayee Govt decision to facilitate greater people to people contact across the Line of Control in J&K,” he posted on Twitter.

“That the LoC trade may have been used by some traders for illegal activities was suspected for years now & it was to plug this that the state has been pleading for the installation of full truck scanners at the trade points,” he posted. “Rather than install the scanners the Govt has taken the regressive & highly unfortunate step of throwing the baby out with the bath water. Instead of saving the CBM they’ve decided to abandon it”.

Former chief minister and PDP president Mehbooba Mufti accused the BJP of using Kashmir as “a scapegoat” to get back to power. “Using Kashmir as a scapegoat to claw its way back to power won’t help BJP. It’s an excuse to worsen ties with Pak despite their peace overtures. By doing this PM Modi has dismantled a CBM initiated by Vajpayee ji. Won’t be surprised if an attack on Pak is in the offing,” she tweeted.

Speaking to The Indian Express, Peoples Conference chairman Sajad Lone said. “It is one step forward, two steps back. It is a regressive step. It was initiated as a confidence building measure at that time and now it is a confidence shattering measure”.

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(With Shubhojit Roy in New Delhi & Arun Sharma in Jammu)

 

First uploaded on: 19-04-2019 at 04:47 IST
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