New Delhi/Mumbai: Voter turnout for the assembly elections in both Haryana and Maharashtra today ended up being significantly lower than what it was in the 2014 polls. At the end of the day, the Election Commission said the estimated voter turnout was 63.55% per cent in Haryana.
Meanwhile, at several polling booths in Maharashtra, the polling process continued well past 6 pm due to glitches in EVM machines and rains. Addressing the press in Delhi, Election Commission officials confirmed that at around 6 pm, a 60.5% voter turnout was recorded in Maharashtra.
Voters appeared largely lukewarm towards the exercise. In the last assembly elections, Haryana recorded its highest ever turnout of 76.54% while Maharashtra had polled 63.13% votes.
Till 1.30 p.m., Haryana had recorded 35.20% turnout while in Maharashtra the voting percentage was slightly lower at 27.63 until the same time.
Voting began at 7 am and continued till 6 pm. Both the states have BJP governments and both saw prominent politicians arrive early to vote.
Both states also saw violence in places. At Nuh, in Mewat district of Haryana, a clash between Congress and BJP workers resulted in six people getting injured.
Several incidents of violence were recorded across Maharashtra. At least three candidates of the newly floated Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) were reportedly attacked while they were on their way to cast their votes. Atul Khupse, the party’s candidate from Karmala constituency in Solapur district was allegedly attacked by a Nationalist Congress Party activist. Khupse’s wife and the party’s polling agent were injured in the attack and are undergoing treatment at the district hospital.
Similar incidents were also reported in Jalna and Nanded districts where the party workers were attacked and a police complaint has been registered. In Jamkhed town of Ahmednagar district, two activists of BJP suffered injuries in a scuffle with NCP workers. Similar allegations were levelled against NCP workers at Mumbra constituency by Aam Aadmi Party workers.
In Amravati district, three motorcycle-borne masked men allegedly fired at the car of Sevendra Bhuyar, a candidate of the pro-farmer outfit Swabhimani Paksha. Later, Bhuyar was also beaten up by assailants.
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In the highly sensitive Aheri constituency, Maoists had issued warnings against peoples’ participation in the electoral process. Pamphlets were found on the streets and banners were put up in the dense forest areas. The constituency recorded a 23.43% turnout until 2 pm.
A surprising turnout was recorded at Gadchiroli constituency where despite threats of Maoist backlash, over 52.51% voted at different polling booths. On October 20, several pamphlets and posters were put up warning people against participating in the voting process. The turnout, however, is much lower than in 2014 when 58.62% had turned up to vote and in 2009 an impressive 65.28% had voted.
Shiv Sena Chief Uddhav Thackeray, wife Rashmi and sons Aditya and Tejas Thackeray show their finger marked with indelible ink after casting vote during Maharashtra assembly elections, in Mumbai. This is the first time a Thackeray is contesting an election. Photo: PTI
EC notice to BJP candidate
The Election Commission issued a showcause notice to the BJP candidate from Assandh in Haryana, Bakshish Singh Virk, after a video appeared in which he was allegedly heard saying that “we will come to know who has voted for whom, there should be no misconception about this.”
However, Virk later denied making the comments saying it was a “fake video”. He insisted he never said anything about electronic voting machines. EC has deployed former Deputy Election Commissioner Vinod Zutshi to examine the issue.
BJP advertisements appear in both states in violation of poll code
Allegations also flew thick and fast on social media about poll code violations by various parties which campaigned even after the mandated period.
The front page of the Mumbai edition of an English daily.
In the Gurugram edition of the Hindi Daily Tribune there was a half page advertisement on page one by BJP.
It urged “Bhajpa ko vote dein” (‘Vote for BJP’) and had images of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar with the words “Imandaar sarkaar, manohar sarkar” (‘honest government, Manohar government’) written between them.
Similarly, in Maharashtra there were reports of advertisements bearing images of chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and Prime Minister Narendra Modi in some English dailies.
One such advertisement carried a ‘message’ from Fadnavis which ran, “I will come back again”. It detailed several promises for the next five years. Some of these, it has been pointed out, were similar to what the party had promised ahead of the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.
The jury is out on whether this indeed counts as a poll code violation, seeing that there is a clause in the EC’s rules which allows such ads that are “pre-certified” by the poll body.
Khattar rides a cycle to Karnal polling station
For the 90 seats of Haryana there are 1169 candidates in the fray. The contest is primarily between four major parties. The ruling BJP had formed its first government with Manohar Lal Khattar as chief minister in 2014. It had won 47 seats then and is eyeing more than 75 now.
Khattar after casting his vote. Photo: PTI
Khattar was among the leaders who cast their vote early. He reached Karnal by train and then took a cycle to reach the polling station. As a news organisation tweeted a video of him taking riding to the polling booth, a Twitter user commented on a large billboard of BJP with his face in the background, highlighting how last-minute campaigning was being done this way.
After casting his vote, Khattar said his party would again form the government.
“Until now we have seen a huge voter turnout. We will get three-fourth majority and complete our target. I would like to appeal to all the voters to perform their fundamental and constitutional responsibilities. Opposition parties, including Congress, have already lost and have left the battleground; their tall claims have no value,” he told the media.
Hooda family votes in Rohtak
Though Congress had come third in 2014, when it won 15 seats, this time with former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda leading the poll campaign, it is hoping for an improved performance.
Hooda turned up in Rohtak to cast his vote. He was accompanied by his wife, Asha, son and former MP Deepender, and daughter-in-law Sweta Mirdha. Talking to reporters, he said it was a direct fight between Congress and BJP.
He insisted that INLD, which won 19 seats in 2014, or its breakaway faction, Jannayak Janata Party, were no longer strong contenders.
“The JJP and INLD are not factors in the Haryana assembly election. The contest is only between Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party,” he told ANI, adding that Congress “will win the ongoing polls as the BJP did not deliver on their promises.”
While BJP contested the polls on the plank of “nationalism” and “providing a corruption-free government”, the opposition parties attacked it for farmer distress, economic slowdown, corruption in various schemes and mining contracts, and large scale unemployment.
Chautala takes a tractor to polling station
In Sirsa, JJP leader Dushyant Chautala, who is contesting from Uchana Kalan constituency, drove a tractor to cast his vote.
He later told a news agency that he was hopeful that every citizen would “vote to give a new direction of Haryana, which will strengthen the farmers of the state.”
JJP leader Dushyant Chautala reaches polling station with his family on a tractor #HaryanaAssemblyPolls pic.twitter.com/4MIjH7tHB1
— Supriya Bhardwaj (@Supriya23bh) October 21, 2019
Without naming the ruling BJP, he asked why, if there was a pro-BJP “wave” in Haryana, did the prime minister come to the state five times the party’s national president cancel his own campaigns. He said the main issues in the state were “unemployment, security and the right price for farmers’ produce”.
‘Congress fighting itself’
Dushyant’s uncle and INLD president Abhay Singh Chautala, who is contesting from Ellenabad, also expressed confidence that BJP would be ousted from power. After casting his vote, he said: “BJP will be out of government after today evening. INLD will play a major role in the new government. Without us the government can’t be formed in the state.”
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Abhay said he did not see any merit in what Congress was claiming since that party was engaged in fighting its own. “Congress is contesting against Congress only. Earlier it was Bhupinder Singh Hooda versus Ashok Tanwar, now it will be Bhupinder Singh Hooda against Kumari Selja. Congress is far from coming in power,” he was quoted as saying.
Mumbai low on turnout again
Meanwhile, in Maharashtra, EC officials said figures could go up from the 60.5% turnout. “This is not a final figure. At several places, the polling is still on. It has been raining at several places in Maharashtra and hence the process has got delayed,” an official told reporters in Delhi.
In all, 96,661 polling booths had been set up by the EC for citizens to cast their votes in the state.
Of the total of 288 seats, in as many as 65, the voting percentage was lower than 50. The lowest turnout was recorded at Ulhasnagar constituency in Thane district where according to the ECI website, only 31.72% of voters had turned out until 6 pm. Similarly, in almost all 38 constituencies of Mumbai, the turnout was low. In the city’s south constituency of Colaba, the turnout was abysmally low at 37.43%.
As many as 59 Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) units and 19 Electronic Voting Machines were replaced in Nagpur district due to glitches on Monday, reported news agency PTI.
Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar who voted at a polling booth in south Mumbai expressed confidence that there will be a change of guard in Maharashtra after the Assembly elections. “Youngsters want to change. The BJP and Shiv Sena ruled the state and people hoped their expectations would be fulfilled. That trust, however, has been betrayed,” Pawar told reporters. The NCP is contesting in 121 of 288 seats in the Maharashtra assembly; the Congress is fighting in 147 constituencies
The BJP, however, remained upbeat and expressed confidence in fairing better than in 2014. Talking to the media, the BJP state chief Chandrakant Patil said, “Since the 2014 elections, people’s faith in politics and politicians has increased, and the reason is the transparent government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” he told reporters.