Advocate polls: counting may take over two months

It's an election which is testing everyone's patience. For,the counting of votes is set to last as long as two months or maybe,even longer.

It’s an election which is testing everyone’s patience. For,the counting of votes is set to last as long as two months or maybe,even longer. The counting which started on January 22 is expected to conclude by March-end. And till then the 136 advocates who are contesting the Maharashtra and Goa Bar Council election will keep their fingers crossed.

On January 7 the elections to the 25 seats of the Maharashtra and Goa Bar Council took place in 36 districts of Maharashtra,2 of Goa and one of Daman and Diu. Of the 1,16,000 advocates,47,554 exercised their franchise. Nearly 22,000 advocates were debarred from voting. That is because they were declared defaulters for not contributing the one-time fee to Advocates Welfare Fund. The counting of votes is taking place in Mumbai. A private agency with 20 staffers has been entrusted the job of counting the votes. The ballot paper is as big as it gets. Some advocates say it could be around 3 X 3 feet carrying the names of 136 candidates in smaller font for preferential type of voting system.

So far,counting of votes in Pune,Nashik,Thane and Jalgaon has taken place. Over all,Pramod Patil from Thane is ahead among the 136 contestants. In Pune,well known advocate Harshad Nimbalkar is leading the 16 who are contesting. Till Monday,nearly 12,000 votes had been counting. But still over 35,000 votes remain to be counted. “It will probably take two months or maybe two-and-half months for the entire process of counting to end. It’s indeed a very difficult and time-consuming election. First the constituency stretches to two states and then counting stretches to two months,” lamented advocate Sushil Mancharkar,one of the candidates from Pune.

Agrees Harshad Nimbalkar,who is contesting for the second time. Nimbalkar said,”It will take over one-and-half months. This is because it’s a preferential type of voting system. There is single transfererable voting. The value of votes increases as the elimination begin,” he said. Mancharkar said the tension is mounting as the crawl of counting continues.

“At this stage,nothing can be said. Though some people are ahead now,things might take a different turn later on,” he said. Since 47,554 votes have been polled,these will be divided by 26. “Which means a contestant to be declared the winner requires around 1700 votes,” Mancharkar said. The polls have been marred by allegations of candidates having used “money,gifts and illegal methods.”

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