India General Elections 2024: Polling in Palghar went on till 9.30 pm

While voting hours in most of Maharashtra concluded by 6 pm in Boisar Palghar and Dahanu of the Palghar Lok Sabha constituency voting continued till 930 pm Officials said a surge of voters towards the end of polling time and a slow rate of registering votes by the EVMs led to the time extension Meanwhile sources in Dahanu told midday that there was a lot of mismanagement at the polling booths as voters as well as polling officials had to sweat it out in the absence of fans at many booths A voter in Vasai also collapsed due to the unprecedented heat on Monday afternoon Since there was no stretcher available at the polling booth the voter was lifted by his hands and legs by the polling booth officialsVoters had no problem waiting to vote till late at nightThe total voter turnout in the Palghar Lok Sabha constituency was 6391 per cent As voting went on till 930 pm Deputy Collector Vijaya Jadhav who was the Systematic Votersrsquo Education and Electoral Participation SVEEP nodal officer said that special permission was sought to extend the voting time as a large number of people came to vote towards the end of the day ldquoWe have to allow everyone who comes into the polling centre to vote and so we shut the gate and allowed those inside to continue voting The process was further delayed as the EVMs take time to register each voterdquo Jadhav saidLocals who came out to vote in the daytime said the temperature was soaring and everyone felt the heat ldquoThere were no fans at a few polling booths where polling officials had to struggle the whole day But they could not utter a word as they were government officials Also we could not get photographs of their ordeal as no mobile phone was allowed inside polling boothsrdquo said Sanjiv Joshi a resident of DahanuA large number of people at a polling centre in Palghar late on MondayAccording to Joshi tents were erected but the EVMs were taking time and the queues were becoming serpentine ldquoEveryone could not be accommodated under the shade as the queue was long and a few of them had to stand under the scorching sun It was a horrible experiencerdquo recalled Joshi District officials have however denied any mismanagement and claimed that everything was peacefully done ldquoWe had made sun protection arrangements at all polling booths in Palgharrdquo Jadhav saidThe voters at the Bahadoli polling booth told midday that the voting process went on at a very slow pace ldquoNearly 100 people were lined up in a queue at 8 pm on polling dayrdquo said a voter The district administration claimed that all polling booths were equipped with the facilities and amenities including medical kits ldquoShades were erected so that the voters standing in queues could stand under the shelter Also a drinking water facility medicines and first aid kits were given to each polling booth in Palghar districtrdquo Jadhav addedAshok Tiwari who collapsed at a polling centre at Vasai being carried away PicHanif PatelHowever despite all the facilities claimed by the district official a 49yearold voter Ashok Tiwari collapsed at a polling booth due to the heat in Vasai where he had gone to cast his vote on Monday afternoon The temperature at the Vasairsquos Vartak College polling booth was around 40degC ldquoI have not been informed about this incident by the officer concernedrdquo Jadhav saidldquoTiwari is a resident of Diwanman in Vasai West He is doing fine nowrdquo said a polling official requesting anonymity Palghar District Collector Govind Bodke said ldquoPolling at Boisar Palghar and Dahanu went on till 930 pm on Monday due to excess voters who came towards the endrdquo When asked why the votersrsquo turnout data was released one day late Bodke said ldquoThe Palghar Lok Sabha constituency is huge and it takes a lot of time to travel from different polling stations to the assembly headquartersrdquoWoman voterrsquos complaintWomen Muslim voters said they had to face inconvenience at polling booths in Vasai as there were no separate rooms organised for them to take off their veils to enable officials to match the photos in their voter IDs ldquoThough the polling booth official was a woman who asked my mother and wife to remove their hijab there were many male colleagues seated on the adjacent table My wife and mother felt very uncomfortable removing their hijab in a public place But they cooperated with the polling official despite facing difficulties Government officials should have created a separate room for women Muslim voters This is a failure on the part of the Palghar district administrationrdquo said Fazle Qureshi a local resident of Vasai6 pmTime to conclude voting