Peaceful bye-polls in 15 states and polls in Maharashtra, Jharkhand

New Delhi: The Election Commission of India (ECI) claimed polling was “peaceful,” in Jharkhand, Maharashtra and in the 15 states where bye-polls took place, today.

Jharkhand witnessed a record voter turnout of 67.59% in the second and final phase of Assembly elections while in Maharashtra the voter turnout was 58.22% in the single-phase polls as of 5 pm today. A total of 4136 candidates are contesting for the 288 assembly seats in Maharashtra amidst an electorate of over 9.7 crores.

Bye-polls in the Nanded Parliamentary Constituency in Maharashtra and 15 Assembly Constituencies (ACs) in 15 states were also held today. In Uttar Pradesh, polling was conducted in 9 ACs, 4 ACs in Punjab, Kedarnath AC in Uttarakhand and 1 AC, 56-Palakkad in Kerala also went to bye-polls today. With this, bye-polls in 48 ACs and 2 parliamentary constituencies of 15 states in two phases were also concluded today.

In Uttar Pradesh, taking cognisance of complaints regarding arbitrary checking and prevention of voters from voting in certain Assembly Constituencies, the Election Commission of India (ECI), after a thorough enquiry ordered the suspension of police personnel in Moradabad, Kanpur and Muzaffarnagar for violating the norms and guidelines regarding checking of voters. Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Rajiv Kumar directed all concerned District Election Offices, Superintendents of Police, and 13 central observers to ensure a free, fair and impartial election process without any bias against any community.

Polling progressed in a “peaceful and orderly manner” in Left Wing Extremism (LWE) affected areas of both states including Garhchiroli in Maharashtra and Giridih in Jharkhand.

As Jharkhand voted for 38 Assembly Constituencies in 12 districts in Phase 2, the turnout surpassed 67.04% voting in these constituencies in the 2019 state elections.

The ECI said the turnout figures would be updated further as polling was still going on in certain polling stations where voters were waiting in queues before the close of poll hours. The counting of votes will commence on November 23, 2024.

Special emphasis was placed on combating urban apathy due to the low voter turnout in urban centres in Maharashtra in past state and parliamentary elections. However, despite a range of measures by the ECI for ease of voting, and motivational campaigns, urban voters in Maharashtra continued their dismal record of low participation in cities like Mumbai, Pune and Thane.  More than 1185 polling stations were set up in high-rise buildings and societies and as per directions from Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar, all basic facilities were provided at polling stations including benches for voters in queue, volunteers and wheelchairs. Various awareness and mass mobilisation campaigns were also organized ahead of the polls involving film celebrities, to nudge urban and young voters.

In Mumbai, celebrities spurred on voters to show up at the polling booths and fulfil their responsibilities. Cricketer and ECI National Icon Sachin Tendulkar voted with his family and reiterated his call to others to come out and vote. Elderly voters were greeted with a certificate and a plant in certain polling stations in Mumbai.

In Jharkhand, the Commission had made concerted efforts to expand the participation among tribal voters. Accordingly, right from enrolment to polling booths, a conducive and welcoming atmosphere encouraged tribal voters to show up at the polling booths. 48 Unique Polling Stations had been set up for Phase II which were adorned by themes reflecting tribal culture and elements. Ahead of the elections, 100% enrolment of the 1.78 lakh members from 8 Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs) in the state was ensured in the electoral roll.

The ECI said a constant and unceasing vigil was maintained over attempts at vitiating the level-playing field through money, narcotics and other inducements in these elections. Seizure figures crossed the Rs.1000 crore mark and stood at Rs. 1139 crores in total since the announcement of the assembly elections and the bye-elections and the enforcement of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) on October 15, 2024. In Jharkhand and Maharashtra, the combined seizures (Rs. 914.18 Cr.) were over 7.5 times the figures recorded in the previous elections in 2019.

On the facilitative side, the Commission said a slew of apps and digital platforms provided for the smooth application and processing of requests for campaign-related permissions. Over 74,200 applications were approved for campaign-related permission on the Suvidha 2.0 app including 55,700 from Maharashtra and 11,932 from Jharkhand. The cVIGIL app, which enables users to report Model Code of Conduct  (MCC) violations saw 24,992 complaints in the ongoing elections, being resolved with a resolution rate of 99%, of which 20,741 were resolved within 100 minutes.