Voting for the Lok Sabha elections took place in Pune on Monday. According to the data posted by the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) on its official X (formerly Twitter) handle, a 51.25% voter turnout was recorded, slightly higher than 2019’s 49.89%.
The Kasba Peth Assembly segment recorded the highest voter turnout —57.90%, followed by 52.43% in Parvati, 50.52% in Pune Cantonment, 49.72% in Shivajinagar, 49.71% in Vadgaon Sheri, and 49.10% in Kothrud.
The contest was prominently between Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate Murlidhar Mohol and Congress nominee Ravindra Dhangekar. However, Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi's (VBA) Vasant More is also likely to poll a major chunk of votes and upset the prospects of either Mohol or Dhangekar.
Meanwhile, a day after the polling, a banner has already come up in Pune congratulating "Khasdar (Member of Parliament)" Mohol. Put up by former PMC corporator Sunny Vinayak Nimhan, the banner says the BJP leader will go from "Karve Road to Kartavya Path".
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The elections were marred by a few controversies too. Pune City Congress chief Arvind Shinde claimed that someone already voted in his name at a polling booth in Rasta Peth. He said that when he reached the voting booth at Saint Mira's English Medium School, he was surprised to find that although his name was on the voters' list, someone had already cast the vote. Shinde said that after finding out, he raised an objection about this and was later allowed to vote using the "tender vote" process through ballot papers.
Besides, many found their names missing from the list. Former Air Force chief Air Chief Marshal Pradeep Vasant Naik's wife, Madhubala, was one among them. "While my son and I were able to vote, my 72-year-old wife's name was found deleted from the voters' list. When we brought this to the attention of the official there, he said that there was nothing he could do to help," ACM Naik said.
