Pune Municipal Elections: BJP's Nivedita Ekbote Alleges Intimidation By NCP Workers; Ajit Pawar's Party Denies, Says It Will Lodge Police Complaint

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate Dr Nivedita Ekbote from Pune’s Ward No. 12 has alleged intimidation at the Modern High School polling centre by workers of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) candidate Balasaheb Bodke. Ekbote said that NCP workers have created an atmosphere of terror in and around the polling centre.

Watch Video:

“The NCP workers are misbehaving with women voters, and have even misbehaved with me. They are taking our photos and videos from a distance. I urge the Pune Police Commissioner and the Maharashtra Chief Minister to take immediate action. I will also lodge a complaint with the Maharashtra State Women’s Commission,” Ekbote said.

Countering the allegations, Bodke’s son Tushar said, “Dr Ekbote is the principal of Modern College. She and the teachers working in the institution were standing inside the 100-metre restricted area and were pressuring voters. A video of this is available.”

Watch Video:

He further alleged, “When our workers objected to this, some of the teachers ran away and even took the demo voting machine along with them. All this has been captured on the CCTV cameras installed at Modern College. When we complained to the police, they removed the teachers from inside the school premises.”

He added, “After this action was taken, Ekbote made a video and is now trying to gain sympathy. We have already written to the Election Commission and we will now lodge a police complaint in this matter as well.”

Meanwhile, polling is underway in Pune for 163 seats, as two candidates -- Manjusha Nagpure and Shrikant Jagtap from Ward No. 35 -- have already been elected unopposed.