Mumbai: The Election Commission of India is all set for the first phase of voting in Maharashtra. Ramtek, Nagpur, Bhandara-Gondia, GadchiroliChimur and Chandrapur go to the polls on April 19. The EC has set up 10,652 polling stations for 95,54,667 voters. Chief Electoral Officer and Principal Secretary S Chokkalingam said: “The EC has prepared 21,527 Ballot Units and 13,963 Control Units and 14,755 VVPATs for the first phase of election, in which the fate of 97 candidates will be decided.” “The materials and equipment required for this election have been provided at the polling stations. Adequately trained electoral staff and officials are available for the smooth conduct of elections. Police personnel have also been deployed. Their services have been made available by randomization of this manpower. Also, seven helicopters have been sent to Gadchiroli constituency.”
Inspection of EVMs and VVPATs complete
The inspection of EVMs and VVPATs provided at polling stations has been completed and they have also been randomised. In these five Lok Sabha constituencies, the commissioning of EVMs and VVPAT machines is being done on the basis of assembly constituencies. Voters above 85 years of age as well as the disabled have been provided the facility of home voting. Ramps and wheelchair facilities have been made available at polling stations for disabled voters. General polling hours are from 7am to 6pm.
The polling time is from 7am to 3pm in four assembly constituencies of Amgaon, Armori, Gadchiroli, Aheri (GadchiroliChimur) and in one assembly constituency of Arjuni Morgaon (Bhandara-Gondia). Voter guides have been given door to door. Voter slips have been made available. Public awareness has been created by advertising in newspapers about which documents other than EPIC can be used for voting. Care has been taken not to violate the model code of conduct. As of April 11, 43,893 weapons have been deposited under law and order. At least 723 weapons have been confiscated and their licences cancelled. Since the implementation of the code of conduct in the state, preventive action has been taken against 70,967 people under the CRPC Act.
In the state Rs39.1 crore in cash and Rs27.18 crore worth of liquor were seized by various agencies from March 1 to April 11. A total amount of Rs421.41 crore including precious metals worth Rs63.82 crore, drugs worth Rs212.82 crore, freebies worth Rs0.47 crore and other items worth Rs78.02 crore has been seized. From March 16 to April 17, 2,337 complaints regarding violation of code of conduct were received on Sea Vigil app across the state, out of which 2,331 (99.63%) complaints were settled.
