Pune polls: Defeated candidates allege malpractices

A day after the declaration of results of the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC), defeated candidates in large numbers stormed the Savarkar Bhavan office of Pravin Ashtikar, the election officer, alleging serious election malpractices in panel 72 (Upper Indiranagar).

The ward’s Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) candidate, Sashikala Kumbhar; Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) candidate, Rekha Gawli; and independent candidates Seema Kavathakar and Surekha Maheshwari entered the office of Ashtikar with a large number of supporters to register their protest.

The candidates alleged that there was large-scale bogus voting in the two crucial polling booths of VIT College and Pant Guru School. “The presiding officers and other election officials did not check the mandatory identity cards of the voters,” said Gawli.
The protestors also alleged that the electronic voting machines (EVMs) were doctored in the ward to benefit the winning candidate.

“The returning officer Monica Singh refused our request for vote recount,” alleged Maheshwari. However, Ashtikar said that these candidates should approach the courts for vote recount.