Assembly polls: It’s the final countdown; Pune district locked in and ready

PUNE The Pune district administrative authority on Wednesday, clarified that all arrangements are in place for the counting of votes for the state assembly elections

PUNE The Pune district administrative authority on Wednesday, clarified that all arrangements are in place for the counting of votes for the state assembly elections on Thursday, October 24.

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Counting will be held at 12 different places in the district for all 21 assembly constituencies. The exercise will commence with the counting of postal ballots at 8 am.

India Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecast thunderstorms accompanied with winds at isolated places in Pune, Kolhapur, Sangli, Satara and Solapur districts on counting day.

”Yes, considering the heavy rainfall forecast in Pune division we are conducting counting in permanent sheds, so there is no need to worry. As far as counting booths are concerned, the actual counting areas for the entire region are waterproof,” said Pune divisional commissioner Deepak Mhaisekar.

At least 11,600 employees have been deployed in the division for what will be the 58th assembly election counting process in Maharashtra.

District collector Naval Kishore Ram said, “All preparations had been made for counting and we are focusing on accurate results, instead of declaring results in a hurry.”

“Counting officials have completed intensive trainings to avoid any technical delay to the counting exercise,” Ram added.

All EVM machines have kept in double-locked room with tight security. As far as Pune district is concerned, at least 1,716 employees have been deployed for 350 counting tables in 21 assembly constituencies.

Each counting table has one one counting supervisor, one counting assistant and one micro observer. For the eight assembly constituencies in the city at least 1,021 employees have been deployed at 198 counting tables.