60 per cent polling in Nagpur

Nagpur, Feb 1 (UNI) About 60 per cent voters are estimated to have exercised their franchise during the elections to the general body of Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) here today.

Speaking to newsmen here this evening, Municipal Commissioner Lokesh Chandra said polling passed off peacefully with no untoward incident reported. there were minor incidents of arguments between supporters of rival candidates, Mr. Chandra said.

No major complaints were received by his office, he said.

Mr Chandra said six electronic voting machines (EVMs) were replaced at six different booths. Five were replaced because the button for closing the voting was pressed by mistake even before the polling began, he said.

One was replaced when the poll staff thought that it was not functioning, when, in fact, the voter was pressing the symbol and not the button in front of it, the Municipal Commissioner said.

Counting is scheduled to take place tomorrow, Mr Chandra added.

A total of 14,40,598 voters were registered for the poll.

Voting took place to elect representatives from among 1,147 candidates in the fray from 135 wards were polling was held, with the election in one ward having been countermanded due to the death of a candidate there.

Meanwhile, about 62 per cent voters are estimated to have cast their vote for the election in Amravati Municipal Corporation (AMC) today, official sources said.

The polling passed off peacefully and there were no reports of any untoward incidents, the sources said.

In Akola, the percentage of voting is estimated to cross 65 per cent, Municipal Commissioner Chandrashekhar Rokade told UNI