Voters adjust to mobile phone ban in polling booths in Pune

Suhas Diwase, district collector and district election officer, while addressing the media on Saturday, said this decision was taken to preserve the privacy of the polling process. “There have been some incidents where people took videos of them and shared them on social media platforms. We have taken this decision in order to stop the occurrence of such incidents,” he said.

The directive was followed to the T by police authorities, with some even restricting mobile phones from entering the designated buildings where voting was taking place. At a civic-run school in Moshi’s Borhadewadi (which falls under the Shirur Lok Sabha constituency), a police official was employed with a public announcement system at the point where the police barricade started, telling people not to take their phones inside.

“Switched off or on, phones will not be allowed,” the announcement said. All the polling stations had large banners with “NO MOBILES ALLOWED” written on them.

While some voters thought it wise to leave their phones at home, several had to come up with innovative solutions to store their mobile phones.

At Sant Nageshwar High School in Moshi, people with mobile phones stood outside the perimeter wall, while their relatives voted inside. They themselves went in later to vote after their relatives were done.

At Santoshnagar’s polling booth in Khed taluka, hardly any voters came with their phones. Santosh Gaikwad, an electoral agent, said that since the booth was in the village, it was not very inconvenient.

“Phones were kept at home. Even if someone had got it by mistake, some of us helped the voters by keeping it safely for them,” he said.

Pimpri Chinchwad Police Commissioner Vinay Kumar Choubey, told The Indian Express the police had implemented the ban. “I personally visited booths and most people have cooperated. There were a few exceptions,” he said.