Mumbai, Jan 10: State Election Commissioner (SEC) Dinesh Waghmare has said that a report has been sought from Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Iqbal Singh Chahal, who has also been appointed as the Chief Election Observer (CEO), on allegations that Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar threatened and restricted independent candidates from filing nominations at the Colaba centre on December 30.
Speaking exclusively with The Free Press Journal, Waghmare said the Commission would refrain from commenting on Narwekar’s role until Chahal’s report is received.
Meanwhile, the SEC has already received a report from the BMC Commissioner Bhushan Gagrani on the alleged December 30 incident, in which AAP and Janata Dal candidates claimed they were not allowed to file their nomination papers.
According to Waghmare, the report states that the action taken by Colaba Returning Officer Krishna Jadhav was, prima facie, legally sound and in accordance with election rules.
He added that the report does not mention anything about Narwekar. Waghmare also said that after reviewing the alleged video clips submitted by Gagrani, the Commission did not find anything objectionable.
No Plaint From Sapkal
Clarifying claims made by Congress state president Harshwardhan Sapkal, Waghmare said the SEC has not received any complaint from Sapkal against Narwekar and therefore did not issue any reply to him.
He stated that complaints were received from Haribhau Rathod of Janata Dal and AAP, and any statements by Sapkal may have appeared in the media but were not officially submitted to the Commission.
Unopposed Wins
Addressing concerns over unopposed elections, Waghmare asserted that there are no unopposed elections in Mumbai. He said the SEC has directed the police department to provide protection to independent candidates who have alleged threats in the state, until the counting process is completed.
Police protection will also continue during campaigning in sensitive wards, including Colaba wards 225, 226 and 227 where the alleged aforementioned incident happened.
On reports that 64 candidates across Maharashtra were elected unopposed, Waghmare said the provision for unopposed elections exists under election rules and the Representation of the People Act, and the Commission cannot bypass statutory provisions to force elections where the law permits unopposed outcomes.
ZP Poll Dates
Waghmare further informed that elections to 12 Zilla Parishads and 145 Panchayat Samitis, where there is no issue of 50% reservation, will be announced soon. In line with the Supreme Court directions, all local body elections must be completed before January 31. As per rules, a minimum 21 days are required between the announcement and polling, indicating that the election schedule could be declared next week.
Housing Society Booths
Explaining polling arrangements in Mumbai, Waghmare said the city has 705 polling stations within housing societies, a facility not extended to other cities due to Mumbai’s unique urban conditions.
1.5 Lakh Duplicate Voters Not Traced
On the issue of duplicate voters, Waghmare said around 1.5 lakh double voters are yet to be traced in Mumbai. With nearly 10,000 polling booths in the city, he said identifying duplicate voters would not be difficult, as there would be only seven to 10 such voters per booth. The number of booths has been increased specifically to aid easier identification and management by election officers.
Model Code of Conduct
Highlighting strict enforcement of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC), Waghmare said authorities have seized cash worth Rs6.65 crore across 29 municipal corporations. In addition, 2.91 lakh litres of liquor, 54kg of drugs valued at Rs49 crore, and 871 arms and ammunition have been seized during the MCC period.
In Mumbai alone, seizures include 44.5kg of drugs worth Rs44.5 crore, 18,703 litres of liquor and cash worth approximately Rs270 crore. He added that around 57 election-related cases have been registered across the state so far.
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Reiterating the Commission’s stand, Waghmare said the SEC is committed to conducting free, fair and transparent elections while strictly adhering to constitutional provisions and election laws.
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