Mumbai: In the by-elections for Andher East constituency, 31.74 percent of the votes have been recorded as of Thursday.
Deputy collector and election officer Prashant Patil said that since the start of voting at 7 am, all the processes of the election have finished peacefully and without any disturbance on 256 polling booths.
The voting initially recorded a low response, despite declaring state holidays for the people of the constituency. Only 9.72 percent voting was recorded until 11 a.m., 16.79 percent voting until 1 p.m., 22.75 percent voting until 3 p.m., and 28.77 percent voting until 5 p.m., as noticed by election officers.
Out of 256 polling booths, Marol booth was declared the "Sakhi Voting Center" because female voters are more numerous than male voters. As per the record of the election commission, there are a total of 1418 voters, of whom 726 are female and 692 are male.
All necessary facilities are provided.
All the necessary facilities were provided at the center, like wheel chairs, first aid kits, and drinking water. Prashant Patil has expressed gratitude to all 1600 electoral staff who were working day and night to complete the voting and 1100 police personnel who had provided security in the constituency.
Now, the counting of votes will be done on November 6, 2022, starting at 8 a.m.
After the death of Shivsena MLA Ramesh Latke, voting for the Andheri Bypoll election took place on Thursday. Rutuja Latke, wife of late Ramesh Latke, is contesting elections on the ticket of Uddhav led Shivsena with the symbol of a flaming torch.
Rutuja Latke cast her vote at the Chinai College voting booth. After voting, she spoke with the media. "Voting is the most important process of democracy, and everyone should vote. Your vote is valuable. After my vote, I am going to move around in my area. All voters are wise, and they know for whom they should vote."
Six more candidates in the fray
Apart from Rutuja Latke, Bala Vyankatesh Vinayak Nadar of the Aapki Apni Party and Manoj Nayak of the Right to Recall Party are contesting the election. Furthermore, Nina Khedekar, Farhana Siraj Sayed, Milind Kamble, and Rajesh Tripathi are the independent candidates who are contesting elections. The counting of votes will be on November 6.
Murji Patel, a BJP candidate who had withdrawn his nomination, also cast his vote. Thereafter, he told the media, "Since the last 25 years I have been working in the area, it is like home. The BJP party told me not to contest the election. Hence, I have pulled back my nomination. I appeal to citizens to cast their votes. No one did publicity for NOTA. People know for whom they should vote. I pray for her that she should not keep herself aside in the party like Shivsena MLA Trupti Sawant."
