Mobile phones banned in Mumbai voting booths
Mumbai: After a month-long gruelling and bitter campaigning, Maharashtra is all set to go to the polls on Wednesday, November 20, with all arrangements finalised for the single-phase Vidhan Sabha elections. Voting for all 288 constituencies will take place from 7 am to 6 pm.
The election commission has banned mobile phones in the voting booths. The polling body said it has taken the precautionary measure as mobile phones can be misused to obstruct voting process and create law and order situation.
The state will witness a straight fight between the ruling Mahayuti bloc comprising the BJP, Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and Ajit Pawar’s NCP and the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), which consists of the Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT) and the Sharad Pawar-led NCP.
The BJP is contesting the elections in 149 seats, Shinde-led Shiv Sena is in the fray in 81 seats and the Ajit Pawar-led NCP has fielded candidates in 59 constituencies. The Congress has fielded 101 candidates, Shiv Sena (UBT) 95, and NCP (SP) has put up 86 candidates.
A total of 4,136 candidates, including 2,086 independents, are contesting in the elections. The number of candidates has increased by 28 per cent this time compared to the 2019 state assembly elections, which saw 3,239 candidates. Rebels are in the fray in over 150 constituencies, with candidates from the Mahayuti and MVA contesting against their party’s official nominees.
The registered voters in the state are 9,70,25,119. Among these, there are 5,00,22,739 male voters, 4,69,96,279 female voters and 6,101 transgender voters. Additionally, the total number of PwD (Persons with Disabilities) voters is 6,41,425, while the number of service voters from the armed forces is 1,16,170.
There will be 1,00,186 polling booths in Maharashtra this time, compared to 96,654 booths in the 2019 assembly elections. This increase is due to the rise in the number of voters. Around six lakh state government employees will be involved in election duties.
According to the Election Commission, articles worth Rs 673 crore, including cash, have been seized between October 15 and November 19. The seized items included Rs 63.47 crore cash, along with 34,89,088 litres of liquor valued at Rs 33.73 crore. Additionally, Rs 32.67 crore drugs were confiscated, along with precious metals valued at Rs 83.12 crore. Officials also seized 34,634 pieces of jewellery worth Rs 2.79 crore and 8,79,913 miscellaneous items valued at Rs 36.62 crore.
For the first time, the Election Commission has appointed the BMC municipal commissioner as the district election officer for both Mumbai districts. The EC has also set up voting booths in 100 housing societies in Mumbai in order to improve voter turnout. The votes will be counted on November 23.