62 Percent of voting recorded in the city

Voters in Nashik district responded well to the appeal by the government as well as the political parties as 62 per cent voters exercised their franchise in the district. As far as Nashik Lok Sabha constituency is concerned, 54 per cent voter turnout was recorded whereas in Dindori 60 per cent voting was registered.
Out of the 38,87,665 voters in the district, around 23,32,599 voters exercised their franchise today. There were 4,191 polling booths in the district. In all, barring minor incidents of EVM problem and money distribution, the voting was peaceful.
In Nashik Lok Sabha constituency, the fate of senior NCP leader, state Public Works Department (PWD) minister, district guardian minister Chhagan Bhujbal was sealed in electronic voting machines (EVMs) today. Along with Bhujbal, Hemant Godse of ‘Mahayuti (Shiv Sena, BJP, RPI-A grand alliance)’, Dr Pradeep Pawar of Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), Vijay Pandhare of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Adv Tanaji Jaybhave of Communist Party of India – Marxist (CPI-M) and Dinkar Patil of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) were in the fray.
In Dindori Lok Sabha constituency, the real contest was between sitting MP Harishchandra Chavan (Mahayuti) who was contesting the election for a hat-trick win and Dr Bharti Pawar (Congress-NCP), a debutante in the Lok Sabha arena.
The voting percentage was more in the morning as people came out of their homes in large numbers to avoid the scorching heat. Both the constituencies recorded around 18 per cent voting in first few hours (7.00 am to 11.00 am). Due to the scorching heat, the speed of voting declined a bit during the afternoon but it speeded up in the evening again. The extra one-hour given for voting this time (7.00 am to 6.00 pm instead of the regular 7.00 am to 5.00 pm) proved beneficial as more voters turned to the polling booths during this time.
During voting process, nine EVMs developed technical snags in the district. Collector Vilas Patil told that after receiving complaints by the voters, election department replaced EVMs in Devpade village in Dindori taluka, Igatpuri, Surgana, Satgaon in Yeola, Nashik East, Nashik West and Atkawade village in Sinnar teshil. Meanwhile, during the evening, the voting process received huge response all over the district. In Panchvati area, the voting process continued till 8.30 pm while long queues were seen in front of many polling centres in the city.
Meanwhile, angry over the unavailability of basic amenities, residents in four villages in district boycotted voting today.