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Updated: Apr 29, 2019 14:59 IST

The biggest challenge for residents of Maval and Shirur, the two constituencies which are voting in the fourth phase of Lok Sabha elections on Monday, will be queueing up to vote in the scorching heat just after a weekend. In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, Maval and Shirur had witnessed 60 per cent polling and now, political parties have to put in extra efforts to ensure a high turnout in areas favourable to them.

Pune and Baramati Lok Sabha seats, which went to polls on April 23, witnessed a considerably low turnout with 49.84 per cent and 61.54 per cent respectively. However, the election officials are optimistic about Maval and Shirur and are expecting a high turnout on Monday even as the mercury is touching new high since past three days. On Sunday, Pune’s temperature was 43 degree Celsius, almost 5 degree more than the normal.

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In Maval Lok Sabha seat, 36,858 names have been added into electoral roll and while in Shirur 60,792 names have been added this time. Also, the number of names which have been deleted from the earlier voter list is negligible.

Naval Kishore Ram, the Pune district collector, said, “We have taken enough measures such as voter awareness campaign in both the constituencies. We have conducted training related to the usage of electronic voting machine (EVM), voter verified paper audit trail (VVPAT) machines in both the constituencies. Hence, we expect a better turnout on Monday.”

“Also, the number of names which have been deleted from the voters roll in the Maval and Shirur parliamentary constituencies is minimal and therefore, it will not have any impact on the voter turnout,” Ram added.

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According to election commission officials, 269 names have been deleted in the three assembly constituencies of Maval parliamentary constituency from Pune district. Whereas, 1,664 names have been deleted from the Shirur parliamentary constituency.

“This will ensure that all the existing voters and new voters are able to vote. Also, help desks will be arranged at all the polling stations to help voters find their names,” said Ram.

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Maval parliamentary constituency has the largest number of voters in the district. Panvel assembly constituency and Chinchwad assembly constituency have over five lakh names, taking the total of six constituencies to 22.97 lakh. Shirur has 21.73 lakh voters.

Meanwhile, the election officials have classified 78 polling stations in the two constituencies as ‘critical’ ahead of the election day on April 29.

Of the 78 critical polling stations, 47 are in Maval, which also has three assembly constituencies from the Raigad district — Uran, Panvel and Karjat. The remaining 31 critical stations are in Shirur.