Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Conference Party requested the Election Commission of India to suspend internet services within the radius of three kilometers around each polling booth in Maharashtra.
The party submitted the letter urging the same. It further read that internet services should be suspended from October 21 to October 24. Counting of votes will be done on 24 October.
NCP claimed that there is fear among the voters regarding the credibility of the Electronic voting machine. It said that the people are suspicious using EVMs and Voter-verified Paper Audit Trail. The fear of VVPAT getting hacked is the primary reason for worry. People also fear that their votes can go to some other candidate’ whom they do not want to vote for.
A total of 8,98,39,600 people are expected to vote. Out of it, there are 4,28,43,635 women are eligible to vote. Approximately 3,237 candidates are contesting the election. Among this, there are 235 women candidates.
Details of Maharastra elections-
- Total seats- 288
- Total Polling Stations- 96,661 polling booths
- Total Candidates – 3237 candidates
Around 40,000 police personnel have been deployed in the state to secure the security arrangements. According to police officials, drones will also be used as a part of surveillance measures. Battalions of CRPF and CAPF have also been deployed in the area. To ensure the smooth conduct of the election, a total of 6.5 lakh staff have been roped in.
Fighting for power in the state, Bhartiya Janta Party has joined its hands with Shiv Sena in ‘Mahayuti’ alliance. The saffron party is fighting on 150 seats while its ally Shiv Sena is contesting with 124 candidates. The remaining seats have been left for smaller allies.
In opposition, Congress party is contesting the polls in alliance with Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party in Maharashtra. The two parties have joined hands to form ‘Maha-agadhi‘ alliance. Congress party has fielded 147 candidates and the ally NCP 121.
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