MUMBAI: Voters in some parts of Mumbai faced long queues and wait times that ranged from one to three hours in the last phase of LS elections in Maharashtra on Monday.
The heat and oppressive humidity added to the discomfort. Also, there were reports of polling being interrupted in a handful of centres because of EVMs malfunctioning and power cuts.
A number of voters said they left without casting their ballot.
The delays had Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray accusing the EC of acting in a partisan manner, and urging people to make sure they vote, while deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis said he was the first to raise the issue of slow voting.
Mumbai Suburban Collector Rajendra Kshirsagar acknowledged that a sudden influx of voters between 9am and 12am led to long queues in some polling stations. But he countered complaints of lack of water and shade at venues. Mumbai City Collector Sanjay Yadav also acknowledged that there had been a few issues, such as large crowds in the Sion Koliwada area and bottled water running out in Sewri polling station, but said these had been resolved quickly.
Some voters would disagree. At the polling station in Sion-Koliwada, citizens said they waited for nearly 3.5 hours and some left without voting.
At the polling station at Wadala Dosti banquets hall, the facilities were woefully inadequate, said a woman who went to vote there. She, her sister and her elderly mother waited in line for three hours, from 7am to 10am. “There was no water, no shade, no fans, and no chairs for senior citizens,” she said.
The heat and oppressive humidity added to the discomfort. Also, there were reports of polling being interrupted in a handful of centres because of EVMs malfunctioning and power cuts.
A number of voters said they left without casting their ballot.
The delays had Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray accusing the EC of acting in a partisan manner, and urging people to make sure they vote, while deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis said he was the first to raise the issue of slow voting.
Mumbai Suburban Collector Rajendra Kshirsagar acknowledged that a sudden influx of voters between 9am and 12am led to long queues in some polling stations. But he countered complaints of lack of water and shade at venues. Mumbai City Collector Sanjay Yadav also acknowledged that there had been a few issues, such as large crowds in the Sion Koliwada area and bottled water running out in Sewri polling station, but said these had been resolved quickly.
Some voters would disagree. At the polling station in Sion-Koliwada, citizens said they waited for nearly 3.5 hours and some left without voting.
At the polling station at Wadala Dosti banquets hall, the facilities were woefully inadequate, said a woman who went to vote there. She, her sister and her elderly mother waited in line for three hours, from 7am to 10am. “There was no water, no shade, no fans, and no chairs for senior citizens,” she said.
