Stray incidents of ‘minor’ scuffles mar polling in Haryana

New Delhi: Stray incidents of minor scuffles marred the otherwise largely peaceful single-phase polling for 90 Assembly Constituencies in Haryana today, the Election Commission of India said.

Voting began at 7.00 am in more than 20,000 polling stations set up in the state. As of 11:45 pm, a voter turnout of 65.65% was recorded, surpassing the Lok Sabha 2024 turnout. In the 2024 Lok Sabha Elections, a voter turnout of 64.8% was recorded in Haryana at polling stations.

A total of 1031 candidates are in the electoral fray which includes 101 female candidates. The counting of votes for the Jammu and Kashmir and Haryana Assembly Elections is scheduled for October 8, 2024.

Voters from all sections of society were seen queuing up at Polling Stations. With a significant population of elderly voters, many above the age of 100 years were seen participating in the electoral festivities with enthusiasm.

As directed by the Commission, webcasting was in place in all the Polling Stations for strict and constant vigil over the poll proceedings. 97 Central Observers were deployed by the Commission for on-the-field monitoring and constant feedback.

The Commission said its “persistent efforts” for inducement-free elections led to seizures worth Rs. 75.72 crores in Haryana, since the announcement of elections this year, representing a four-fold increase in seizures as compared to the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. The corresponding figure in 2019 was Rs. 19.03 crores.  

“Seizures have been made across all districts and cohorts which include Rs. 31.5 crore cash, Rs. 16.6 crore worth of liquor and 11.13 crore drugs. Ambala (Rs 11.82 crores), Faridabad (Rs 10.07 crores) and Gurugram (Rs 9.94 crores) remained the top 3 districts in terms of seizures,” the Commission stated.

Since the announcement of elections in Haryana, over 29,000 complaints were received with a complaint resolution rate of 99%. The highest number of complaints were received in Faridabad, followed by Sirsa and Rohtak.

In all, 12 Assembly Constituencies were identified as expenditure-sensitive for strict vigil. 391 Static Surveillance Teams (SST) and 453 Flying Squads Teams (FST) were deployed for surveillance. Vigilance was also maintained with 133 checkpoints (Nakas) on the state borders and 140 checkpoints within the state.

In a first, a home voting facility was introduced in the Haryana Assembly Elections for voters above the age of 85 and Persons with Disabilities (PwD) voters.

“The entire process has been videographed to ensure transparency while preserving the complete secrecy of the ballot. 2468 PwD voters and 8907 voters aged above 85 years availed of the home voting facility,” the Commission stated.

As an encouragement to young voters, 114 polling stations were managed by the youth. As part of promoting gender inclusivity and accessibility, 115 Polling Stations were managed completely by women while 87 were managed by PwDs.

The provisional voter turnout figures of 65.65% as of 11.45 pm will continue to be updated assembly constituency-wise on the Voter Turnout App by the ROs, as and when the polling parties formally close the poll and return from the polling stations based on the geographical/logistical conditions and after scrutiny of statutory papers and consideration of repolls, if any, the Commission stated.