Maharashtra assembly elections 2024: Only 5 persons allowed during poll nomination submission to Returning Officer, say Police

An official said that the Mumbai police have restricted the number of persons entering the Returning Officers RO cabin for submission of nomination to five for the Maharashtra assembly elections 2024 reported news agency PTIAlso only three vehicles of a candidate will be permitted in the 100 metres periphery of the ROs office as per prohibitory orders issued on Tuesday under section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita BNSS he said reported PTIThe police also prohibited political campaign through slogans rally procession singing of songs and use of musical instruments during the submission of nomination form the order mentionedIf two candidates of different political parties come at a time to submit their nomination forms then nobody will indulge in a provocative act against each other the official said reported PTIAhead of the upcoming Maharashtra assembly elections 2024 the prohibitory orders will remain in force till November 4 in the Mumbai district and suburbsOfficials reach out to housing colonies civil society to increase voting in ColabaMeanwhile authorities have been reaching out to the civil society members and representatives of housing societies in Mumbais Colaba segment to appeal for increasing the voter turnout in the Maharashtra assembly elections 2024This comes after Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar last week expressed concern over urban apathy affecting the voter turnoutIn the 2019 state polls south Mumbais upmarket Colaba area saw a low voter turnout of about 40 per centIn a bid to address the issue of urban apathy the Election Commission has decided to hold voting this time on Wednesday November 20 with an aim to discourage voters from going on vacations if the exercise is clubbed with weekendsThe Election Commission has been flagging the issue of low polling in urban centres including those like Mumbai and Pune in Maharashtra and has been taking a number of steps to increase voter awarenessLook at Gurgaon look at Faridabad recently last election Jubilee Hills Hyderabad Bengaluru South Gandhinagar Colaba Pune Thaneiquest all are much below state averages of each state Kumar had saidSpeaking to reporters on Tuesday Mumbai City Collector Sanjay Yadav said they have prepared a list of polling booths which witnessed low voter turnout in the last few elections and formulated as action plan as per the polling stationFor increasing the voter turnout an action plan has been prepared at the booth levels he said when about steps taken to encourage electors to exercise their franchiseYadav said they are reaching out to the civil society members and officerbearers of housing societies apart from the boothlevel assistants in the Colaba constituency to increase the voter turnout on the election dayHe said Colaba area has a large number of defence colonies and hence they are also approaching defence officers and asking them to appeal to their staff to voteWe have done all the possible preparations so the voting percentage will be at par with the national and state average Yadav saidWith inputs from PTI