The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) on Thursday released the draft ward-wise voter list for the upcoming municipal elections, revealing a massive jump of 9.46 lakh voters since 2017. The total electorate now stands at 35,51,469, compared to 26.07 lakh during the last municipal polls.
However, the increased number is a cause of concern as nearly 3 lakh names in the list have been flagged as duplicates or repeated entries, prompting citizens to closely verify their details before the final roll is published.
Among all 41 wards, Ward 9 Sus–Baner–Pashan has emerged as the largest, with 1,60,241 voters, driven by rapid development and population growth in the area. On the other hand, Ward 39 Upper Indiranagar has only 62,205 voters, the lowest in the city.
A total of 10 wards now have more than one lakh registered voters, including Kalas–Dhanori, Viman Nagar–Lohegaon, Kharadi–Wagholi, Manjari Budruk–Keshavnagar, Shivne–Khadakwasla–Dhayari, Balaji Nagar–Ambegaon–Katraj and others.
3 Lakh Duplicate Entries Found
Three lakh voters have been found to have appeared twice in the electoral rolls, said Municipal Commissioner Naval Kishore Ram on Thursday. However, he added that the PMC has no powers to carry out the deletion of voters received from the State Election Commission.
"The list of double entries is with PMC, which would be used to ensure there is no double voting by the elector,” said the commissioner. "Local officials will soon begin door-to-door verification. If a voter is found registered at more than one location, their name will be retained only at the correct address to ensure no double voting occurs," he added.
Objections Until November 27
Citizens can file objections or corrections on the draft list until November 27. The Election Commission has clarified that bulk objections will not be accepted. Each voter must file their own application, except for cooperative housing societies, where a chairman or secretary may submit a consolidated request on behalf of residents.
Confusion has been reported in the lists for Ward 13 (Pune Station-Jai Jawan Nagar) and Ward 24 (Kasba Ganpati–Kamala Nehru Hospital) due to overlapping part numbers printed on both pages.
After verifying and resolving objections, PMC will publish the final voter list on December 5. Polling station-wise lists will be released on December 8, with the final version expected by December 12.
Voters Outnumber Population Estimate
While the 2011 Census lists Pune’s population as 34.81 lakh, the current draft voter count stands at 35.51 lakh -- over 70,000 more. Officials attribute this to the inclusion of 23 merged villages and the city’s rapid urbanisation.
The draft list is available at the municipal election office and 157 ward offices, and can also be viewed on the PMC website.
