The Election Commission team, which arrived in Maharashtra for a two-day visit to review preparations for the state assembly elections, has completed its tour.
During this visit, the commission held important meetings with several political parties and officials. The Election Commission stated that elections must be conducted in Maharashtra before November 26, as the assembly's term will end that month.
After assessing the situation in Maharashtra, the commission held a press conference on Saturday to share updates on the election preparations.
Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar informed that they had come to provide information about the commission's preparations for the upcoming Maharashtra assembly elections. "In the past two days, we have met with all national and state-level political parties. We also held discussions with law enforcement officials and provided them with several directives," he said.
Chief Election Commissioner Rajeev Kumar stated, "Participation from everyone is essential in a democracy... Maharashtra has 1,186 polling centers, with 42,558 urban booths and 57,600 rural booths. We will make every effort to ensure 100% CCTV coverage at polling booths in urban areas, and we aim to cover over 50% of booths in rural areas with CCTV as well. Management of 350 booths will be handled by youth, 299 booths by persons with disabilities, and 388 booths will be managed exclusively by women."
The commission mentioned that there are 9.59 crore voters for the 288 assembly seats, including 49,039 voters who are over 100 years old. Additionally, there has been a 22% increase in the number of female voters in Maharashtra.
In Maharashtra, all major tribal communities have been fully included in the voter list. Persons with disabilities and elderly voters can inform booth officials of their arrival via the Enabled app, allowing them to receive prioritized assistance when casting their votes.
Moreover, it is our responsibility to first include voters from remote and inaccessible areas in the voter list and then facilitate their voting. We will also strive to increase the voting percentage at booths with low turnout rates.
The commission also announced that there will be a paid holiday on the day of voting. All industrialists and management in the industrial area will be informed about this, and strict compliance with this regulation will be enforced.