Counting of votes for the Assembly elections is underway in Maharashtra. All eyes are on the outcome of the battle between the ruling BJP-led Mahayuti coalition and the Maha Vikas Aghadi Alliance (MVA), which is seeking a comeback.

Since counting of votes for 288 seats is taking place across the state, district authorities are expecting victory processions after the results are declared. But one district thinks differently. Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar (formerly known as Aurangabad) banned victory processions after the results were declared.

Here’s everything you need to know about it.

• Authorities in Maharashtra’s Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar district have banned victory processions after the National Assembly election results were declared on Saturday.

• On Friday, a day before the counting of votes, district collector Dilip Swami called a meeting with senior police officials, according to the news agency. Press Trust of India.

• According to Swami, to avoid tense situations after the announcement of the results, victory processions were banned. He said: “When the results are out, the situation becomes a bit tense. So, in order to avoid public order problems, we will not allow any victory procession on the day of the result.”

• He further claimed that party workers would not be allowed to form a group on the results day in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar district. He said, “Sometimes party activists gather and sometimes their gathering turns into a procession. We are not going to allow that either.

• Processions will be authorized once the situation is deemed peaceful. “Later, once everything has calmed down, we will authorize processions. We have issued prohibitory orders accordingly,” the district collector said.

• The counting began at 8 a.m. while
  the vote took place in a single phase on Wednesday November 20..

Women’s voter turnout increases in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar

The region saw an increase in the number of female voters on Election Day this year, the Times of India. Women’s voter turnout increased by 6% compared to the 2019 elections.

According to Swami, various awareness campaigns involving women voters enabled more women to exercise their right to vote. “We started our campaigns for the parliamentary elections soon after the Lok Sabha elections. We have sought help from various self-help groups (SHGs) to contact voters and appeal to them to vote. A series of special campaigns were also organized through Mahila Arthik Vikas Mahamandal (National Women’s Development Society) to create awareness among women voters. Workshops were also organized for working women,” reported YOU quoting Swami.

With contributions from PTI