Nagpur Voting passed off peacefully in Vidarbha except for the Naxalite hotspot of Gadchiroli where six incidents of firing and blockading ofroads to obstruct movement of polling staff were reported. As per provisional figures, the turnout in the region averages around 58% with rural areas of Buldana recording a high of 68% and some constituencies in Nagpur recording a low of around 45%. The moderate turnout and close fights in most of the 62 constituencies in Vidarbha made predictions of outcome difficult.
Reports received from Amravati said a case was registered against Shiv Sena MP Anand Adsul when some of his associates brandished a gun at BJP sarpanch Nitin Patel at Pandhri village in Daryapur constituency. Adsul's son Abhijit is contesting from the Daryapur (reserved) seat and the MP and his supporters were apparently angry that the BJP, an ally, was working against the Sena candidate and canvassing for an independent candidate Avinash Gaibole at Anjangaon Surji. Following the sarpanch's complaint, a cognisable offence was registered against Adsul and his associates. In 22 polling stations in Gadchiroli where polling could not take place on Tuesday as staff did not reach there in time, repoll has been scheduled on Thursday.
At least in Nagpur city, the experiment of giving paid holiday even to employees in private establishments provided an increase of about 10% votes compared to recent Lok Sabha elections. Many major markets remained closed for the better part of the polling time-- 7 am to 5 pm. A curfew-like situation was seen in city centres like Central Avenue, Wardhaman Nagar and Gandhibagh. With Diwali business at its peak, several shopkeepers resumed business by noon in areas like Sitabuldi and Dharampeth in the city. But major shopping malls and multiplexes remained shut till evening while it was a declared holiday for government offices, banks, schools and colleges.
Apparently voters in large numbers enjoyed the paid holiday and stayed indoors utilising the day for ritual Diwali cleaning or for a short vacation by clubbing it with week-end. But slum-dwellers and people in old, congested areas of cities came out in good numbers to exercise their franchise. Voting started on a poor note recording barely 7.5 in Nagpur district's 12 seats in the first two hours but picked by noon when around 24 % votes were cast. Eventually the last two hours before the closing time of 5 pm saw a brisker voter turn-out as those avoiding the hot sunny day came out to vote.
One welcome change this time was there was no cacophony of grumbling voters at polling stations to complain about missing names from voter list or polling officials not allowing voters for want of ID proof. It looked like the roll revision and large-scale operation of issuing photo-ID cards had paid off and the voting was overall a smooth affair unlike Lok Sabha elections six months ago when voters had a tough time because of glaring errors in the electoral rolls.