Ambuj Tripathi
ambuj.tripathi@thelucknowjournal.com
Maharashtra / Haryana, October 21: Polling ended peacefully on 288 Maharashtra assembly seats and 90 assembly seats in Haryana on Monday. Maharashtra has an average turnout of 56.65 percent and Haryana 63.55 percent.
The voting percentage may increase by one-half percent till the final figures are arrived. In the last election (2014), there was 63.38 percent polling in Maharashtra and 76.54 percent in Haryana.
Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh’s Sarsanghchalak Dr. Mohan Bhagwat, Sarkaryavah Suresh Joshi Upkhyay Bhaiyaji Joshi voted in Nagpur on Monday.
Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal cast his vote in Karnal. Manohar Lal reached the polling station by bicycle.
The polling in both the states was peaceful except for sporadic incidents. In Maharashtra’s Pimpri-Chinchwad constituency, there were minor clashes between Shiv Sena and NCP supporters. Violent clashes were also reported at four polling stations in Mewat district of Haryana. Naxal-affected Gadchiroli district of Maharashtra recorded an average of 63 per cent polling till 3 pm.
The special thing is that no untoward incident happened in Bhandara, Chandrapur, Gondia and Gadchiroli during the voting. There is a BJP-Shiv Sena alliance government in Maharashtra. Out of 288 seats in the state assembly, BJP has fielded candidates for 150 and Shiv Sena for 126 seats. The remaining 12 seats are left for allies.
The NCP and the Congress contested the election. Congress fielded 147 and NCP won 121 seats. Prakash Ambedkar’s underprivileged Bahujan Aghadi’s 235, Raj Thackeray’s MNS 105, Owaisi’s AIMIM 44, BSP 262, Aam Aadmi Party 24, Samajwadi Party’s seven candidates are trying their luck. A total of 3237 candidates are in the fray for 288 seats in Maharashtra. There are 235 women among them.
At the same time, there is also a BJP government in Haryana. BJP has fielded candidates in all 90 seats in the state.
Polling delay due to technical fault in EVMs: Polling was interrupted for an hour due to technical glitch in EVMs at Mohgaon polling station under Samudpur tehsil of Wardha district. As a result, there were long queues of people there.
Polling was delayed by two hours due to a malfunction in electronic voting machines (EVMs) in Sapadgaon under Senggaon tehsil of Hingoli district. Voting was disrupted for a few hours due to malfunction in EVMs at Marsangvi in Latur district and Dudhangaon in Parbhani district. At the same time, in 12 assembly constituencies of Nagpur district, a complaint was registered in 34 units of the control unit and 59 centers for disturbances in the voter verifiable paper audit trail( VVPAT).
20 village voters boycott voting in Palghar: People from 20 villages including Vadhavan, Varor, Dhakti, Dahanu, Gungwada, Tadiale, Badapokharan and Vasgaon, boycotted by the Vadhavan port being built at Dahanu in Palghar district Have done There was silence throughout the day at polling stations in the region. There are about 28 thousand voters in 20 villages of the region. Narayan Patil, chairman of the anti-port works committee, said the villagers have decided not to vote unanimously.
As per the Poll of Exit Polls, a BJP government can be formed once again in Haryana and Maharashtra. The BJP-Shiv Sena alliance is expected to get an absolute majority in the Maharashtra Assembly elections indicated by six exit polls. Whereas in Haryana, BJP may return to power here, according to the major exit polls. However, the election results will come on 24 October.
