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Mandate out today for 288 seats, 3,237 candidates in Maharashtra
In some cities, including Mumbai, the counting for three-four constituencies will be held at common centres. The votes from five booths per Assembly constituency will be verified with voting slips from VVPATs and may delay the declaration of results.
Two main alliances of four major parties, 3,237 candidates, 288 seats – the election commission machinery is all set for counting of votes for the Maharashtra Assembly elections in 269 constituencies beginning 8am on Thursday. The exit polls have projected a clean sweep for the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party-Shiv Sena combine.
In some cities, including Mumbai, the counting for three-four constituencies will be held at common centres. The votes from five booths per Assembly constituency will be verified with voting slips from VVPATs and may delay the declaration of results. “Although the preliminary trends are expected to come in from 11am, the final results may be delayed and expected to be announced after 2pm,” said an official from the office of state chief electoral officer. “We have taken review of the preparations on Wednesday. The machinery is all set for counting of votes. With the use of technology during counting, we expect the results to be announced early. The standard operating procedures set by the election commission are being followed and there is security outside counting stations and strong rooms,” said Baldev Singh, chief electoral officer, Maharashtra.
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According to the officials from the EC, more than 100 battalions of the Central Armed Police Forces, including Indo-Tibetan Border Police and Border Security Force, will be deployed at the counting centres across the state. The constituencies with fewer rounds of counting are expected to get the results first. Badanapur in Jalna has lowest number of rounds at 13, while Satara constituency will have 33 rounds of counting.
The exit polls conducted by various agencies have predicted the ruling BJP-Shiv Sena alliance will get a second term with more than 200 seats. The exit polls, conducted by various agencies, predict 166-244 seats for the ruling alliance, while the Opposition alliance led by Congress is predicted to win 48-90 seats.
The Opposition parties, however, claimed they would win at least 100 seats. “We are doing well in some regions and will cross the 100-seat mark with the Nationalist Congress Party and smaller allies,” said Balasaheb Thorat, president, Maharashtra Congress.
Bhartiya Janata Party’s state unit chief Chandrakant Patil said the ruling combine will bag more than 240 seats. In the 2014 elections, the BJP had won 122 seats, Shiv Sena 63, Congress 42 and NCP 41 seats.
Maharashtra recorded 61.13% voter turnout, two per cent point less than the 2014 Assembly polls. Cities including Mumbai, Pune and Thane recorded low percentage of voters compared to rural areas. In Mumbai, the voter turnout was 50.51%, against 51.21% in 2014 polls. Mumbai recorded a turnout of 55.23% in the Lok Sabha elections held in April-May this year.
More than 25,000 government employees have been given counting duty. The employees have gone through two rounds of training. Each constituency will have 14-20 rounds of counting. The strong rooms, where Electronic Voting Machines (EVM) and VVPATs are kept, have been provided with three-tier security of central armed police forces, state reserve police and local police. Each counting station will have micro observers appointed by the Election Commission of India.
The feed of the CCTVs installed at the strong room will be available for representatives of political parties.
The BJP state headquarters in Mumbai and some party offices in the city with have LED screens to show the election results. Celebrations are planned at the state headquarters in the evening, which will be attended by chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and state BJP chief Chandrakant Patil.
