Maharashtra: Over 69 lakh new names included in voters' list; registration on till Oct 19

Mumbai, Oct 16 (IANS) At least 69,23,199 names have been added to the Maharashtra voters' list so far ahead of the Assembly elections slated for November 20. As per the updated voters' list, there are 9,63,69,410 voters compared to 8,94,46,211 during the 2019 Assembly polls.

Of the 9,63,69,410 voters, 4,97,40,302 are male and 4,66,23,077 are female.

A total of 12,43,192 voters are above 85 years of age.

The voters' registration would take place till October 19.

Maharashtra Chief Electoral officer S. Chockalingam on Wednesday said the number of polling stations has increased to 1,00,186 against 96,653 polling stations during the 2019 Assembly election. Of these polling stations, 42,604 are in urban areas and 57,582 in rural areas.

He said the Model Code of Conduct came into effect from 3.30 p.m. on Tuesday, adding the office of state Chief Electoral Officer would check whether any government resolution had been released after that.

If such government resolutions are still being released, action will be taken under the stipulated norms, he said.

On the issue of demographic deficit as observed by the Election Commission of India (ECI), Chockalingam admitted that the low voters' turnout in urban areas including Colaba in south Mumbai and other cities is a matter of concern.

"However, efforts have been stepped up to reach out to the voters through various modes including awareness campaigns and sending messages to them urging them to participate in a big way on a polling day. The Election Commission, political parties and media can play a major role in increasing the voters' turnout," he added.

He said that the ECI has acted upon the representations made by various political parties not to keep the polling date in succession with weekend.

"This year, the polling in Maharashtra will take place on November 20, which is Wednesday, and this will help increase the voters' turnout," he added.

Maharashtra Additional Chief Electoral Officer Kiran Kulkarni said a close vigilance will be kept on the cases pertaining to influencing the voters, flow of money and luring the voters.

On the utterances by party leaders with regard to 'vote jihad', Kulkarni said: "The Model Code of Conduct has come into effect from Tuesday afternoon. Some leaders tend to use it, we will not spare anyone. If we receive any complaint, we will check it within the legal framework and submit our report accordingly."

--IANS

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