With the counting for the Lok Sabha seats scheduled on June 4, the Pune district administration is all geared up. There are a total of four Lok Sabha constituencies whose counting will be conducted in the Pune district. The counting for the Pune and Baramati Lok Sabha seats will be conducted at the Food Corporation of India (FCI) godown at Koregaon Park, the counting for the Maval Lok Sabha seat will be at the Shree Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex in Balewadi, while the counting for the Shirur Lok Sabha seat will be at the State Warehouse Godown in Ranjangaon MIDC.
Voting for Pune, Maval and Shirur took place on May 13, while Baramati voted on May 7. In Pune, the contest is between BJP's Murlidhar Mohol and Congress' Ravindra Dhangekar, while in Baramati, three-time MP Supriya Sule of the NCP (Sharad Pawar faction) is facing competition from Sunetra Pawar of the NCP (Ajit Pawar faction). In Shirur, sitting MP Amol Kolhe of NCP (Sharad Pawar faction) is facing off against NCP (Ajit Pawar faction) candidate Shivajirao Adhalrao, while in Maval, Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde faction) MP Shrirag Barne is facing a tough challenge from Shiv Sena (Uddhav Thackeray) leader Sanjog Waghere.
The final voting percentage for Pune was 53.54 per cent, a slight rise from 2019's 49.89 per cent. However, voter turnout in Maval, Shirur and Baramati went down. Maval recorded a voter turnout of 54.87 per cent, significantly lower than 2019’s 59.59 per cent. Shirur recorded a voter turnout of 54.16 per cent, also lower than 2019’s 59.44 per cent. Baramati’s voting percentage dropped by 2.2 per cent to 59.50 per cent.
Meanwhile, Pune District Collector Suhas Diwase and Pune Police Commissioner Amitesh Kumar recently jointly inspected the counting centre in Koregaon Park and reviewed the system. On this occasion, there was a discussion on the various rooms to be established for the counting of votes, construction of various facilities, arrangements for candidates and candidates' representatives, facilities to be provided to the counting teams, police presence, location of parking lots, diversion of traffic, etc.
Besides, Diwase had called a meeting of poll officials to take stock of training sessions for the counting process and reviewed the progress. At the meeting, he instructed that no one would be allowed within 100 metres of the premises except employees, candidate representatives, and officials. Only staff will be allowed to carry mobile phones, laptops, or wireless sets in the counting area, he added.
In Shirur, meanwhile, a no-parking zone has been declared around the counting centre. To avoid creating traffic jams in the vicinity of the counting centre and to prevent law and order problems, the road from Rajmudra Chowk to Kardelwadi Chowk, Yash Inn Chowk to SBI Chowk Karegaon MIDC, Yash Inn Chowk to Ranjangaon MIDC Police Station, and UKB Company Chowk to Maccaferri Company Chowk in front of Karegaon MIDC has been declared a no-parking zone.
