Confusion over polling centres mars voting

With 1,85,385 lakh voters in the Kondwa-Wanowrie area,only 85,750 lakh voters showed up at the Bibwewadi ward office which was monitoring panels 61,62,63,70 and 72 in the area. The total voting percentage recorded for the area was 46.26 per cent. Male voters dominated with 53.47 per cent voting while female voters recorded 46.53 per cent.

With confusion over the polling centres,the polling agents carrying laptops at different chowks helped the voters identify their centres. Some regular voters who had their centres at a nearby school had to go all the way to Bibwewadi-Kondwa road. “It was difficult to find centres but we managed to do so and cast our vote,’’ said 83-year-old Simone D’Souza. Senior citizen C Desai moved around in a rickshaw with his wife as both their polling centres were different. “I had my polling centre at Rose Parade club house while my wife’s centre was at Natasha club house,’’ he said. There were several other families who could not locate their names. The Katraj Dhankawadi area saw a slight improvement with 52.65 per cent voting with the area divided into five panels recording 1.76 lakh population. Many slum pockets of the Katraj area and few societies saw a good turnout increasing the percentage to 50 per cent.

While the Dhankawadi ward office,which mainly covers the Dhankawadi and the Katraj areas and has panels 69,73,74,75 and 76,saw 92,936 voters exercise their franchise. Here too the voting was dominated by male voters. A total of 52.65 per cent voting was recorded in these panels.