Pune: Opposition parties on Tuesday criticised the State Election Commission (SEC), alleging that the polls to 246 municipal councils and 42 nagar parishads were being rushed despite the alleged discrepancies in the voters’ list. Mahayuti members, however, expressed optimism about winning the upcoming elections scheduled for Dec 2.State Congress president Harshwardhan Sapkal said SEC has a constitutional duty to conduct free and fair elections. “Unfortunately, SEC appears to be acting under govt influence. Despite receiving substantial evidence from opposition parties highlighting discrepancies in the voters’ list, SEC failed to correct them. Instead, it proceeded with the polls, seemingly under pressure from govt,” he said.Last week, senior MVA politicians and MNS chief Raj Thackeray held a public rally in Mumbai to protest the flawed electoral rolls, urging SEC to delay the polls till the lists were rectified. NCP (SP)’s former state president Jayant Patil said, “SEC cannot shirk its responsibility to fix the electoral rolls. Its refusal to act raises serious concerns about whether it is functioning independently or merely following govt directives. Our criticism is directed at SEC, yet it is BJP that seems to be responding to our objections,” Patil said.Shiv Sena (UBT) aligned with its alliance partners in expressing concerns about SEC. Sena (UBT)’s Dharashiv MP Omraje Nimbalkar said, “Even BJP minister Ashish Shelar highlighted discrepancies in the voters’ list. SEC could have easily deferred the polls to correct these issues. Since the polls had already been delayed by three to four years, waiting a few more months to ensure accurate voter rolls wouldn’t have made a significant difference.“Responding to the MVA’s allegations, Mahayuti members dismissed the opposition’s claims, asserting that MVA was anticipating defeat and therefore attempting to mislead the public. Senior BJP politician and cabinet minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule said, “The voters’ lists used for the Lok Sabha election were also used for the assembly poll, and now the same lists are being used for the civic body elections. The opposition raised no objections during the Lok Sabha polls, where they secured more seats. But following their poor performance in the assembly polls, they are now fabricating a narrative against the govt and spreading misinformation to justify their loss.”Cabinet minister and Shiv Sena politician Uday Samant said, “I don’t wish to comment extensively on the matter, but once the results are declared on Dec 2, the entire state will witness a clean sweep by Mahayuti in the civic body elections. We have the people’s support across Maharashtra.”
