Pune city records all-time high of 42 per cent voting in graduate and teacher constituency elections

Pune: Voters came out in huge numbers for exercising their right and cast their votes for the graduate and teacher constituency elections which were held on Tuesday (December 1). Pune city recorded an all-time high of 42 per cent voting in the graduate and teacher constituency elections.

The graduate and teacher constituency elections were made prestigious by the Bharatiya Janata Party and Maha Vikas Aghadi – the ‘unnatural coalition’ of Shiv Sena, Nationalist Congress Party and Congress – as the two took each other head on for the first time since the coalition was formed.

The election process was mired with controversies as usual with several voters being turned away as their names went missing from the electoral roll and the long distance between polling stations. Despite this and Tuesday being a working day, this election saw a three times high voter turnout in the graduate constituency while two times high voter turnout in the teacher constituency election.

The higher voter turnout is being attributed to the efforts of political workers of all parties who encouraged the voters to step out of their homes and offices despite the Covid-19 concerns. In the last election, only 14 per cent voters from all eight constituencies within Pune city had exercised their voting right while this year the number reached an all time high of 42 per cent.

The voting process was started at 8am in the morning. Voters reached the polling stations early morning in order to cast their votes and then reach the office in time. Several voters took extra efforts to reach the polling stations which were far away from their home.

Political parties had for the first time in such elections, erected booths to help voters outside the polling stations. Vehicles were also being arranged to transport voters from their homes to the polling station. On the backdrop of Covid-19, arrangements were also made for sanitisers and thermal guns for screening of incoming voters.