Ujjain (Madhya Pradesh): Barring some minor incidents of rigging and clashes, the polling was by and large peaceful and smooth for the election of 54 wards and 1 mayoral candidate of Ujjain Municipal Corporation on Wednesday. Till 9 am, only 10 per cent of electorates had cast their votes. The figure reached 26 per cent at 11 am and only 40 per cent of votes were cast till 1 pm. By 3 pm, the figure reached 50 per cent. By 5 pm, 59.53 per cent voters exercised their franchise.
The maximum enthusiasm for the Ujjain Municipal Corporation elections was visible in the Old City. According to reports, about 70 per cent of polling was recorded in ward number 10 of Ujjain North while about 58 per cent polling was recorded in ward number 52 of Ujjain South. However, a low turnout was seen in New Ujjain. Long queues were seen outside the booths of 32 wards which fall under the Ujjain North constituency while there was comparatively low turnout in the remaining 22 wards which fall under the Ujjain South constituency. Contrary to the previous elections, there was a significant drop in the Muslim and Bohra-dominated areas. Notwithstanding, heavy turnout was evident in SC-dominated areas.
In ward number 1, Ayodhya Bai, above 100 years of age, cast her vote in centre number 4 of the Government Ayurvedic Dispensary. She had come to cast her vote holding the hand of great-grandson Vishal Malviya. New voters also joined the election. Varid Bhargava cast his vote for the first time in ward number 42. He said that it was very nice to vote. In ward number 2, the pace of voting was very slow in the morning, though it accelerated in the afternoon. Voting in ward number 3 was very fast since morning and due to this, there was a heated argument between the Congress and BJP workers. In polling booth number 24, 25 and 26 of the ward, the workers were seen indulging in a tussle over the entry of unwanted people into the booth, although the matter was resolved with the intervention of the police. A lot of hustle and bustle was seen in wards 10, 24 and 46.
There was an atmosphere of enthusiasm among the grooms regarding voting. Salman Khan, a resident of Mitra Nagar in Government Primary School Khilchipur of ward number 3, cast his vote. Salman's marriage procession was to go out in the evening and he had cast his vote at 10.30 am.
Former Union minister Satyanarayan Jatiya cast his vote in ward 49. During this, he also talked to an independent candidate. Collector Asheesh Singh cast his vote with his wife at the polling booth at Kothi Palace. MLA Paras Jain cast his vote in ward 18. MP Anil Firojia cast his vote at the booth located at Dussehra Maidan while higher education minister Mohan Yadav cast his vote at the booth in the Freeganj area along with his wife. BJP mayoral candidate Mukesh Tatwal and his family cast their vote at a booth in Sant Nagar in ward number 45. Congress mayor candidate Mahesh Parmar cast his vote in the booth at Dussehra Maidan of ward number 52 after visiting Chintaman Ganesh Mandir, Mahakaleshwar Temple and Harsiddhi Mandir. He was accompanied by City Congress Committee president Ravi Bhadoria. Congress candidate Surekha Vashisht also cast her vote at the same booth.
A youth was caught on suspicion of fake voting in ward 48 at 4 pm. He is being interrogated.
at the Neelganga police station. A case has been registered against the youth on the complaint of the presiding officer.
Collector Asheesh Singh and SP Satyendra Kumar Shukla also inspected the booths. Mobile teams also continued to patrol across the city.
The election campaign continued throughout the day on social media as well. The names of Ojas Vyas, son of late poet Om Vyas Om, family of Dr Katyayan Mishra, director of JK Hospital and Nirmal Gupta, director of Shri Mishthan Bhandar, were not in the voters' list. On the Facebook page ëUjjain Waleí, there was a stir throughout the day regarding this. At least 100 people complained about the name being cut here.
