Mumbai, Jan 14 (PTI) As many as 1,700 candidates will vie for 227 seats in the key elections to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) with the civic body saying on Wednesday all arrangements have been made for peaceful and orderly polling on Thursday.
In a press release, the civic body said preparations for polling were completed on Wednesday with the distribution of EVMs and other election materials carried out at 23 divisional centres in the metropolis.
Voting will start at 7.30 am and end at 5.30 pm, while counting of votes will be conducted at 23 designated centres across Mumbai under the supervision of the respective Returning Officers (ROs) on January 16.
As per the release, the corporation has finalised counting centres for all 227 wards. Each centre has been equipped with secure strong rooms for custody of election materials, including EVMs, and arrangements have been made to ensure transparency during the counting process.
Civic officials said polling staff reported in large numbers since Wednesday morning and all required materials, including voter lists, seals, indelible ink and official documents, were handed over to them after due verification.
More than 25,000 police personnel will be deployed across Mumbai to oversee elections to the BMC and vote counting.
A total of 10,231 polling stations have been set up across Mumbai and 64,375 officers and staff have been deployed for duty.
The BMC said several measures have been taken to encourage voter participation, including decoration of polling stations, setting up of pink booths, selfie points and media facilitation centres, along with special assistance for senior citizens and persons with disabilities.
Adequate police deployment has been made to maintain law and order on polling day, it said.
Meanwhile, in a first-of-its-kind initiative, the civic body has introduced a geo-fencing and live vehicle tracking system to monitor the movement of vehicles deployed for election duty.
As per a second BMC release, as many as 2,865 vehicles, including 1,023 buses from civic undertaking BEST, 101 from the state transport corporation, 1,160 from private owners and 581 taxis, are being tracked through a central control room at the civic headquarters in south Mumbai to ensure timely and secure transportation of polling staff and election materials.
The BJP-led Mahayuti is locked in a keen battle with the reunited Thackeray cousins – Raj and Uddhav – heading MNS and Shiv Sena (UBT), respectively, for control of the cash-rich BMC, which has an annual budget of more than Rs 74,000 crore. The NCP, its rival NCP (SP), Congress, Samajwadi Party, among others, are also in the fray. PTI KK RSY
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