Thane: With an aim to attract a maximum number of voters and make the electoral process pleasant and enriching, the Election Commission of India (ECI) has established 12 special polling stations across six assembly segments falling under the Thane (25) Lok Sabha constituency.
These include six women-only or Sakhi polling stations managed entirely by women and an equal number of stations have been designated as youth-managed booths and will be entirely run by young people.
Additionally, six polling stations which have been tagged as disabled-friendly will be equipped with ramps and other facilities to aid voters with disabilities. Every assembly segment including Mira Bhayandar (145) and Ovala-Majiwada (145) has at least one such theme-based or model polling station.
While the Sakhi and Youth-managed stations have been set up at Royal College (number 436) and Bhayandar Secondary School (number 196) respectively, the disabled friendly centre is located at Bishop School (number 191).
The voting process for the Thane Lok Sabha seat is scheduled to be held in the fifth phase on 20, May (Monday). As per information sourced out from the district electoral office, the total number of registered electors in the Thane Lok Sabha constituency stands at 2508072 including- 207 from the transgender community, 13,48,163 male voters and 11,59,002 female voters.
The electoral strength of the Mira Bhayandar (145) and Ovala-Majiwada assembly segment is pegged at 4,57,391 and 5,09,346 respectively. While a total of 2,453 stations have been set up in this constituency, 451 and 466 are located in the Mira Bhayandar (145) and Ovala-Majiwada (146) assembly segments respectively.
The ECI has facilitated separate toilets, adequate drinking water, ample shades to provide protection from the scorching heat, ramps and wheelchairs for elderly and physically challenged voters. While the entire machinery is geared up for the phase-5 of the polls, district collector and returning officer (Thane)-Ashok Shingare has called upon citizens to check their names in the electoral roll and turnout in greater numbers at their designated polling stations and vote with responsibility and pride.
Although a total of 25 candidates including independents and those representing smaller parties, a fierce contest between Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) candidate Rajan Vichare (UBT) and Maha Yuti’s -Naresh Mhaske (Shiv Sena) is on the cards.
While Mhaske who is the former mayor of the TMC and a close confidante of the chief minister, Vichare has wrestled this seat for two consecutive terms (2014 and 2019) and is hoping to register a hattrick.
