Smooth polling barring minor EVM glitches

Lokmat News Network

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar:

Under the jurisdiction of the election returning officer (ERO) No. 2, two incidents of EVM malfunction were reported at Gujarati High School and Maratha High School in Prabhags 15, 16 and 17. However, the deployed master trainers rectified the issues within 15 to 20 minutes, following which the polling process resumed smoothly. Notably, due to faulty or inadequate ramps at some polling stations, elderly, differently abled and ailing voters had to face considerable difficulty.

No untoward incidents were reported at the 40 polling stations in Prabhag 15, 42 in Prabhag 16 and 35 in Prabhag 17. Senior leaders from the BJP and the Uddhav Sena were seen frequently visiting several polling stations, including Gujarati Kanya Vidyalaya, Gujarati High School, Maratha High School, the Veterinary Hospital at Khadkeshwar, Shishu Vihar School, Sharada Mandir, Ravindra Vidyalaya, the Divisional Library, Shivaji High School and the Social Welfare Office, to assess the polling trend.

Voter turnout during the morning session was negligible, and a similar situation prevailed until 3 pm. However, from 3.30 pm onwards, voters began turning up in large numbers across all three wards. At exactly 5.30 pm, the main gates of polling stations were closed, leading to a rush among voters who arrived at the last moment. Riot control units were deployed at sensitive polling stations, and senior police officers made regular visits. As a result, no untoward incident was reported at any of the 117 polling stations across the three prabhags.

The state’s minister Atul Save, BJP leader Dr Bhagwat Karad, former MP of the Uddhav Sena Chandrakant Khaire, and former leader of the opposition Ambadas Danve visited several polling stations and reviewed the situation. Candidates of major political parties and their supporters were also seen making concerted efforts at many places to mobilise voters.

Struggle for senior citizens

At several polling stations including Gujarati High School, Gujarati Kanya Vidyalaya, the Divisional Library, Maratha High School and many municipal schools there were no ramps for elderly, differently abled and sick voters. At some places where ramps existed, they were in poor condition, causing inconvenience not only to the voters but also to their accompanying relatives.

Profile of the Prabhags

Prabhag No. 15 mainly includes areas such as Gulmandi, Anguri Baugg, Keli Bazaar, Gandhinagar, City Chowk, Diwan Deodi and Narali Baugh. Prabhag No. 16 comprises Ajabnagar, Sabzi Mandi, Khokadpura, old Mondha, Bhavaninagar, Surananagar and Laxman Chawdi. Prabhag No. 17 includes Khadkeshwar, Bhoiwada, Mill Corner, Nageshwarwadi, Samarthnagar, Kotla Colony and Samatanagar.