Special buses arranged to boost voter turnout in Pune

According to travel operators, multiple buses were booked early morning on polling day to ferry voters from areas such as Bhor, Shirval and the Indapur stretch along the Solapur highway to ensure their participation

With polling underway in Pune on Thursday, January 15, political parties made special arrangements to ferry voters staying outside the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) limits to the city to cast their votes. A large number of voters who work in Pune happen to reside in other parts of the district. According to travel operators, multiple buses were booked early morning on polling day to ferry voters from areas such as Bhor, Shirval and the Indapur stretch along the Solapur highway to ensure their participation.

Many travel operators said that they were approached by political candidates/parties over the past few days to arrange dedicated buses. (REPRESENTATIVE PHOTO)

Many travel operators said that they were approached by political candidates/parties over the past few days to arrange dedicated buses. Mangesh Mhasawade, a travel operator from the Bhor-Shirval route, said, “Since Wednesday evening, we have been running buses from the Bhor and Shirval side. Most of the passengers are voters who work in Pune but stay in villages due to the high rents in the city”. Each such bus ferried around 40 to 45 passengers, Mhasawade said. Another bus operator Prakash Jaybhay handling trips from the same belt said that the demand was unusually high. “Normally these routes are quiet on weekdays but today, almost all our buses are fully booked for Pune city. The bookings were done by party workers,” he said.

Similar arrangements were also made for voters from the Indapur stretch of the Solapur highway. Travel operator Bhushan K from that route, said, that buses started before dawn to ensure that the voters reached the polling booths on time. “We arranged three buses from the Indapur side. These are people who vote in Hadapsar and nearby areas but stay outside. Everything was planned in advance,” the operator said.

A candidate from one of the prominent political parties in the Hadapsar constituency, on condition of anonymity said, “Many of our supporters are workers and employees staying outside the PMC limits. If transport is not arranged, they may skip voting. We only helped them reach the city so that they could exercise their right to vote.”

Kedar Potdar, who availed the bus service arrangement, said, “I work in the Shirval area but my family lives in Pune city. Taking a day off and arranging transport is difficult. This bus made it easy for me to come and vote.”

Another voter Bhagyashree Kulkarni travelling from Indapur, said, “I didn’t want to miss voting. The bus picked us up early morning and dropped us near our polling area. Without this, I might not have come.”