Graduates' constituency count in Nagpur on Tuesday: 84 tables, 38 candidates in the fray

The counting of votes for the Nagpur Division graduates' constituency of the Maharashtra Legislative Council will start at 8 am on Tuesday, October 27, at the Mankapur Indoor Stadium in Nagpur. The administration has finished its preparations, and 84 tables have been arranged for the exercise. Police will keep a tight watch over the stadium on the day of counting.

Divisional Commissioner Vijayalakshmi Bidari, who is the returning officer for the election, said 38 candidates are contesting.

Polling took place on October 23 at 445 centres spread over six districts: Nagpur, Wardha, Bhandara, Gondia, Chandrapur and Gadchiroli. The constituency has 2,55,603 registered voters, of whom 1,65,672 turned out, which makes the overall turnout 64.82 per cent.

Chandrapur had the best turnout among the districts at 73.05 per cent, and Nagpur the weakest at 60.35 per cent. Gadchiroli stood at 72.95 per cent, Gondia at 71.29 per cent, Wardha at 68.35 per cent and Bhandara at 67.07 per cent.

To make sure the count is open and transparent, the second round of training for the staff assigned to counting duty was held at the Divisional Sports Complex and was completed today. Election observer Dr Harshdeep Kamble and Ms Bidari addressed more than 400 officers and employees at the session. The two of them later went through the strong rooms, checked how the tables have been laid out and looked at the parking arrangements.

Since the election was conducted on ballot papers, the votes will be counted on the basis of the order of preference marked by voters. The final result will be announced only after the check on the validity of the ballot papers has been completed.