TVC elections: Long queues at voting centres as first ever hawkers polls in city begin

BMC headquarters. File Pic

The first-ever election to choose hawkers' representatives in the Town Vending Committee (TVC) elections was going on smoothly on Thursday across 67 voting booths in Mumbai, officials said.

In the TVC polls, around 32,415 licensed hawkers will cast their votes by 5 pm on Thursday, they said, adding that the results will be declared only after the Supreme Court's permission.

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The TVC polls are important as it is responsible for the allotment of licenses to hawkers, pitches, and overall regulation in the city, the officials said.

The structure of the TVC consists of one central town vending committee and seven zonal committees. Each committee comprises 20 members, with 12 being nominated and eight being representatives of hawkers. These hawker representatives will be elected by the hawkers through the election process.

There was only one nomination for each of the 17 seats, hence these 17 candidates are elected unopposed, an official said.

"The voters were to select around 13 to 15 names from more than 65 candidates, and that is taking time to vote," said an official appointed to oversee the elections.

A total of 237 candidates are in the running. Of these, 190 are male and 47 are female.

The election result were scheduled to be declared on the same day after the counting of votes but in a petition filed by Maharashtra Ekta Hawkers Union that the election in Supreme Court on Wednesday stated that the scheduled elections shall be held on August 29, however the result of the election shall not be declared after the order of the the apex court.

Zone wise voters numbers

7,686 - zone 1

5,303 - zone 2

4,668 - zone 3

7,501 - zone 4

2,160 - zone 5

3,033 - zone 6

2,064 - zone 7

……………….

Total: 32 415