BMC polls: Counting of votes to be carried out in a phased manner on January 16

The officers said that there are more than 20 ROs for Mumbai, and with two constituencies being counted at a given time it will cover the total of 227 wards.

“Since these are local body polls, the number of seats is higher. In an Assembly election, there are 36 seats, but in civic body polls, there are 227 seats. Therefore, if we carry out the counting of votes in a phased manner, we will be able to carry out the process smoothly with the number of human resources that we have,” said an officer on Wednesday.

According to authorities, this year, 64,000 civic workers have been deployed for counting of votes, an increase of 30.6 per cent from 2017.

During the 2017 civic body polls, counting of votes was taken up simultaneously across all counting centres. Similarly, during the 2024 Assembly elections, votes were counted simultaneously across constituencies.

Congress MLA Aslam Shaikh said that the change in the vote-counting process was not required. “What is the point of changing the system suddenly. These kinds of activities may disrupt the flow of trends,” Shaikh said.

Shaikh’s son, Haider, is contesting the polls for the first time from ward number 34.

Meanwhile, Shiv Sena UBT leader and former Mayor, Vishakha Raut, has also questioned the move. “The simultaneous method of counting is much more transparent in nature.”

Mumbai is set to witness the local body polls after nearly nine years on Thursday (January 15). After the polling, the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) will be transported to two strongrooms at Mumbai’s Vikhroli and Kandivali. On Friday, they will be brought to 23 stations for counting.