Nashik: Voting for the general elections of Nashik Municipal Corporation began today (January 15) at 7.30 am. Voters have voted enthusiastically at various centers in the city, and 6.51 per cent voting has been recorded till 9 am. Out of a total of 13, 60, 722 voters, 6,56, 675 are women, 7,30, 968 are men and 79 are transgender voters. 735 candidates are in the fray for 122 seats, of which 527 are party and 208 are independent. Close contests are expected in many wards.
Voting initially began half an hour late. Queues started at polling stations due to technical glitch in EVM machines in ward numbers 24 and 29. In ward 2, the EVM remained closed in room number 9 of the municipal school at Adgaon till 9 am. The election officials changed the machines and started voting.
In Ward 24, voting was stopped for a long time in the morning due to EVM malfunction in Room No. 8 of Modern High School. Voting resumed after the technical problem was resolved immediately. In Ward 29, the EVM in Room No. 2 suddenly went off, due to which voting was stopped for half an hour. Later, the process resumed after the machine started.
The voting process will continue till 5.30 pm. The State Election Commission has prepared all the systems and additional police force has been deployed at sensitive centers. Pink booths (for women employees) and assisted voting facilities are available at some places. Counting of votes will begin at 10 am on January 16 after voting.
In the 2017 elections, 61.60 percent voter turnout was recorded in Nashik. This year, there is a close contest between BJP, Shiv Sena (Shinde group), Nationalist Congress Party (Ajit Pawar group), Shiv Sena (Uddhav group), Congress, MNS and other parties. A fight like Mahayuti vs Mahavikas Aghadi is expected. The administration has appealed to the voters to exercise their rights and vote peacefully.
