Rewa: Voting began at 7 am in eight assembly constituencies of Rewa and Mauganj districts amid tight security. As soon as voting started, long queues of voters were seen in many polling stations. In a festive atmosphere, the elderly, disabled and first-time voters voted with enthusiasm. Hundreds of polling stations in the district were decorated attractively and made pink booths and model polling stations. There was tremendous enthusiasm among the voters regarding voting. Till 5 pm, about 64.72 percent voting had taken place in the district.

In the total voting held in the district, the percentage of male voters was 61.46 and the percentage of female voters was 68.28. Women voted more than men in all the assembly constituencies except Rewa assembly constituency. The final information about voting has not yet been received in many polling stations. There may be some increase in this. Voting was conducted peacefully in all the polling stations in the district. Minor disputes occurred in some polling stations, which were promptly resolved by administrative and police officials and ensured peaceful voting. Even after the end of the scheduled time, voting was going on in many polling stations of Teonthar, Gudh, Mauganj, Semaria and Sirmaur assembly constituencies.

The process of mock poll started in the polling stations in the district from 5.30 am. After the mock poll, actual voting started at 7 am. During the mock poll, EVMs were changed in 7 polling stations due to technical fault. Even during the voting, some EVMs faced technical hurdles which will be resolved promptly to ensure smooth voting. Collector and District Election Officer Mrs. Pratibha Pal and Superintendent of Police Vivek Singh ensured all the arrangements at the time of voting. During voting, 19 companies of Indo-Tibetan Border Police paramilitary forces were deployed across the district. Apart from these, 1600 personnel of the city army, more than 1200 personnel of the district police force and forest department employees as special police officers, Anganwadi workers and Kotwar were deployed. Barring minor incidents, voting passed off peacefully.

62.37 percent in assembly constituency 68 Sirmaur, 68.13 percent in 69 Semaria, 65.57 percent in 70 Tyonthar, 65.79 percent in 71 Mauganj, 61.85 percent in 72 Devtalab, 61.41 percent in 73 Mangawan, 65.29 percent in 74 Rewa and 67.79 percent in assembly constituency 75 Gudh. Percentage voting took place. Voting was brisk since morning in urban and rural areas of the district. Till 9 am, 12.48 percent voting took place in the district. During this period, maximum 13.28 percent voting took place in Mangawan assembly constituency. Voting picked up after 9 o’clock due to clear weather. Till 11 am, 28.06 percent voting had taken place in the district. Voting continued at a rapid pace till noon. By 1 pm, 43.10 percent voting had taken place in the district. Maximum 45.26 percent happened in Semaria assembly constituency. Till 3 pm, 55.42 percent voting had taken place in the district. Maximum 58.95 percent happened in Semaria assembly constituency. Till 5 pm, 64.72 percent voting took place in the district.

Continuous monitoring of the ongoing election process in the district from the control room.

Voting started at 7 am in 2014 polling stations of all the eight assembly constituencies of Rewa and Mauganj districts. Before voting, mock poll was conducted in all the polling stations. A special control room was created in Government Engineering College, Rewa to collect all the necessary information regarding voting and to monitor law and order. Dr. Saurabh Sonawane, Chief Executive Officer of District Panchayat was made its nodal officer. Assembly wise communication team officers and employees were deployed in the control room. Necessary information was collected from each polling station by them. Along with the control room, a webcasting center was also created for monitoring EVMs. In this, the team deployed under the leadership of District Manager Public Service Ravikant Pandey monitored the polling stations through webcasting. Webcasting was done in 1015 polling stations of the district. In the same room, 719 vehicles being used for election work were monitored through GPS system. Collector and District Election Officer Mrs. Pratibha Pal continuously monitored the polling stations across the district from the special control room and webcasting room.

A communication team was deployed under the leadership of Divisional Forest Officer Anupam Sharma in the special control room in the Engineering College itself. Information was continuously received from the polling stations by the team deployed for each assembly constituency. Polling station arrangements, voting percentage and other information were continuously collected. District Manager e-Governance Ashish Dubey compiled this information and sent it to the Election Commission and senior offices on time. Online arrangements were made to send information. Through these, every information related to voting in the assembly elections became available on time.

The Collector expressed gratitude

Collector and District Election Officer Mrs. Pratibha Pal has expressed her gratitude to the officers and employees for conducting the voting peacefully in all the eight assembly constituencies of the district. He said that due to the hard work of all the officers and employees and proper execution of their assigned responsibilities, the voting was conducted smoothly. No untoward incident was reported from any area. Voting was conducted smoothly in all polling stations. The Collector has also expressed gratitude towards all the police officers and security forces deployed to maintain law and order during the voting. He expressed his gratitude towards all the sector officers, presiding officers, polling officers and all the officers and employees associated with voting. The District Election Officer also expressed his gratitude towards the media representatives.

Elderly and disabled voters voted enthusiastically

Voting started at 7 am in all the eight assembly constituencies of the district. Elderly and disabled voters voted enthusiastically in many polling stations. The Election Commission also provided the facility of voting through postal ballot to elderly voters above 80 years of age and disabled voters. Very few voters used it. Most of the elderly and disabled voters went to the polling booth and voted along with other voters. 88 year old Mrs. Kajal Banerjee cast her vote at polling station number 30 Godhar of Rewa assembly constituency. 93 year old voter Surendramani Tripathi cast his vote in the same polling station. BLO Mahendra Kumar Srivastava welcomed him with a garland and helped in conducting the voting. Similarly, 78-year-old Ram Vilas Tiwari, 75-year-old Chhotalal Kol, resident of Gram Panchayat Patpara and disabled woman Munnibai voted. 99-year-old Shesh Pratap Singh voted along with his wife, 93-year-old Mrs. Dharmadevi, at the polling booth Lauri in Mangawan assembly constituency.

Many disabled people voted in Godhar polling station.

Like other polling stations in the district, voting started at 7 am in polling station number 30 Government High School Godhar of Rewa assembly constituency. There was a queue of voters in the polling station since morning. Elderly people, young voters and women voters voted with enthusiasm. Despite the Election Commission providing the facility of voting through postal ballot from home, many disabled people considered it better to go to the polling station and vote. Many disabled people also exercised their franchise in Godhar polling station. The disabled were taken aside from the queue and given the facility to vote without making them wait. BLO Mahendra Srivastava, posted at the polling station Godhar, actively contributed in getting the disabled people to vote. In this polling station, handicapped Prateek Shukla and Pramod Kushwaha were the first to vote with their feet. In the same polling station, elderly voter Harilal, who is disabled in both legs, reached in a wheelchair and exercised his franchise. Despite their disability, disabled voters contributed by voting with full enthusiasm in the great sacrifice of democracy. His enthusiasm is very inspiring for the common voters also.

District Election Officer inspected various polling stations

Collector and District Election Officer Mrs. Pratibha Pal inspected the election process for the Assembly Elections 2023 by visiting the polling centers and took information about the voting process being conducted by the polling party personnel.

Women showed great enthusiasm for voting

Along with men, women are also actively using their franchise in the assembly elections. A lot of enthusiasm was seen among women for voting in the polling station located at Jyoti School. Voters who came to vote at the district’s model polling center Umri Madhav were welcomed with garlands.