Maharashtra Civic Polls: Polling in Mumbai and 28 other municipal corporations across Maharashtra on Thursday saw a turnout of around 50 per cent, despite a major controversy over claims that the ink applied to voters' fingers could be easily removed.
After voting closed at 5.30 pm, State Election Commissioner Dinesh Waghmare stated that the turnout across the 29 civic bodies was between 46 and 50 per cent. The final polling figures will be announced later.
Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray on Thursday claimed irregularities in the Maharashtra civic polls, terming it an attempt to murder democracy, and urged voters to dislodge the "brutal, fraud, corrupt and dictatorial regime of the BJP".
Uddhav and his cousin Raj Thackeray, who heads the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena, targeted the State Election Commission (SEC) over a range of issues, besides claiming that the ink used on voters' fingers could easily be erased.
Former CM dubbed the SEC an anti-constitutional body. Never ever such things (alleged irregularities) have happened before, Uddhav charged. He said the ink used by the poll commission could be erased using hand sanitisers.
"This is not the erasing of ink but of democracy," Uddhav said.
Meanwhile, the elections to the 29 municipal corporations in Maharashtra were marred by clashes between groups, allegations of bogus voting, cash distribution, and technical issues with the EVMs.
Officials confirmed that no major incidents occurred in Mumbai, the largest and most keenly contested of these corporations.
According to police reports, only minor violations of the model code of conduct were reported in Mumbai, the commercial capital of the country.
Several Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) encountered malfunctions in wards across Nagpur, Amravati, Shirgaon, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar (Kanya Vidyalaya), Akola (Pink Polling Centre), and Dhule.
There were also reports of bogus voting in Sangli, Virar, Thane (Kajuwadi), Malegaon (Ward 9), Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar (Ward 24), Pune (Ward 3 and Ward 40), Ahilyanagar, and Pimpri Chinchwad (Golande School). At Golande School polling station, chaos ensued after rumours spread that the centre had been shut down due to allegations of bogus voting.
Further allegations of bogus voting were raised by various groups in Pune and Ahilyanagar, officials highlighted.
"In Amravati, Shiv Sena candidates clashed with another group. Police intervened and removed everyone from the spot. A clash took place between BJP workers at the Manvel Pada polling station in Virar, including verbal abuse directed at a voter. A scuffle was reported between Shiv Sena and BJP workers at the Deolali polling station in Nashik," the official said.
A dispute broke out between BJP and Shiv Sena (UBT) groups over allegations of money distribution at Ichalkaranji, while an EVM was damaged in a fight between two groups in Dhule.
"On Thursday morning, two groups had a scuffle in a school in Ward Number 18 in Dhule, following which some persons entered the polling booth and damaged an EVM. The polling process was stalled for over an hour due to this. It restarted after a new EVM was put in place," the official said.
In Akola, candidates from the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and the BJP clashed, while their supporters engaged in a verbal spat, the official added.
"A physical fight broke out between AIMIM and Congress workers in Solapur. In Bhandup, a clash occurred between candidates from Shiv Sena and Shiv Sena (UBT). Supporters of two candidates scuffled in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, resulting in some sustaining serious injuries," he said.
A case was registered against the husband of a BJP candidate after a photo of the EVM while he was voting went viral on social media.
(With Inputs from PTI )