Pimpri-Chinchwad: Chaos erupted at a polling centre located in Kalpataru Housing Society in Pimple Gurav during the voting process on Thursday, following allegations of bogus voting. The husband of a female candidate staged a protest by sitting in front of the election officer’s vehicle, claiming that voting was being allowed even in the absence of official voter lists. Police later intervened to bring the situation under control.
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Alleging serious irregularities, Rahul Jawalkar said, “Voter lists are missing, yet voting is still being allowed here. This means bogus voting is taking place. The officials and the police are also complicit in this.”
Rahul Jawalkar’s wife, Vaishali Jawalkar, is contesting the Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) elections from Seat C of Ward No. 29 on the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena ticket. The seat is reserved for candidates from the OBC category.
A video of the scuffle has since gone viral on social media, showing Rahul Jawalkar visibly agitated at the polling centre. Following the disturbance, a minor, who reportedly claimed to be Jawalkar’s nephew, was briefly detained by the police.
Senior Police Inspector Jitendra Koli, in charge of the Sangvi Police Station, told reporters, “The meeting between Rahul Jawalkar and the Returning Officer is ongoing. The matter has ended peacefully, and the situation has been brought under control.” When asked about the detention of the minor, Inspector Koli said, “Action will be taken against anyone who interferes with government work.”
Speaking about the incident to the media, Shiv Sena candidate Vaishali Jawalkar said, “Bogus voting is taking place in Ward No. 29. The voter lists were not provided and are not available at the polling centre. Voters are coming but are being sent back. The labels on the EVM machines were changed after they were found damaged, without informing us. There is complete mismanagement by the State Election Commission, and we want justice.”
The PCMC elections are witnessing a direct political contest between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the unified Nationalist Congress Party (NCP). While the Shinde-led Shiv Sena was initially expected to ally with the BJP, alliance talks reportedly broke down barely two-and-a-half hours before polling began.
Civic polls are being held in Pimpri-Chinchwad after a gap of nearly nine years, adding to their political significance. The previous municipal elections were conducted in 2017, when the BJP emerged victorious. The elected body’s term ended in March 2022, after which the civic administration has been under administrative rule.
The PCMC comprises 32 wards with a total of 128 corporator seats. The city has an electorate of 17,13,891 voters, including 9,04,815 men, 8,07,139 women, and 197 voters from other genders.
