Mumbai (Maharashtra): Shiv Sena (UBT) president Uddhav Thackeray alleged on Monday afternoon that voting was delayed at several places in Mumbai and the Election Commission of India was doing this deliberately at the behest of the Narendra Modi government.
Delay was taking place at the polling booths in areas where his party expects more votes, he said at a press conference here while urging electors to stand in queues as long as early morning if the process was slow. As per poll officials, a voter turnout of 48.66 per cent was recorded till 5 pm in 13 Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra where the fifth and final phase of general elections was taking place.
In Mumbai, polling is taking place across all six Lok Sabha constituencies.
"Dirty games are being played through the Election Commission. There is a lot of enthusiasm among voters, but the Election Commission is acting in a partisan manner. There is a delay by EC's representatives in certain areas," Thackeray alleged.
Officials were cross-checking names several times, and women and senior citizens were facing problems at polling booths, the former Maharashtra chief minister said. There was no drinking water at many places, he claimed.
"The Modi government is using the EC as its handmaiden due to its fear of losing. This is a ploy of the Modi government to ensure that voting against it is minimised," Thackeray alleged.
There was no incident of crowding outside polling stations in the Mumbai city district due to the slow voting process, said Mumbai city collector Sanjay Yadav.
In the morning, voters in large numbers assembled outside booths in Sewri, Sion Koliwada and one more place, but additional manpower was used to clear the rush and the polling process was conducted swiftly, the senior bureaucrat said. "We were monitoring the situation at polling stations with the help of more than 2,500 web cameras, and arrangements were being made accordingly," he said.
"Everything was normal and peaceful during the voting as we have been preparing for the polls for the last two months," said Yadav, adding the turnout (in Mumbai city) is also good this time.
Voters who are at polling centres before or at 6 pm, will be allowed to cast their ballot, he said. Mumbai Suburban District Collector Rajendra Kshirsagar said though there were long queues of electors at some booths, everyone who arrived before the closing of polling time will be allowed to cast their vote.
