PUNE: In Maharashtra, some surnames have for long carried more weight than manifestos, like Thackeray and Pawar.For BJP, the January 15 polls and its favourable outcomes on Friday were not just about gaining control over the richest civic body in India — the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) — or to establish its governance in Pune,…
PUNE: The small city of Ichalkaranji registered an impressive 69.8% voter turnout, the highest among the 29 municipal corporations that went to polls on Thursday. Ichalkaranji is having its debut civic elections; its municipality was formed in 2023.State election officials said they expect overall voter turnout to be near 60%, higher than previous years. Pune…
Pune: A gruelling 72-hour work marathon is unfolding quietly behind the scenes of the municipal corporation elections. With polling and counting scheduled on consecutive days, returning officers (ROs) and assistant returning officers across the state are bracing for an unusually demanding, back-to-back duty schedule, leaving many officials away from home for several days at a…
Pune: A marathon runner’s life was saved near Savitribai Phule Pune University recently after a fellow participant — who had completed CPR training just one week prior — stepped in to perform life-saving chest compressions during a cardiac emergency. The incident unfolded during a marathon event near the university campus. The runner collapsed near the…
Pune: Slum pockets in Pune and the Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) areas registered a good voter turnout, particularly during evening hours, as workers from all political outfits went the extra mile to mobilise electors to benefit their parties. Except for a couple of hours in the afternoon, officials said they noticed a constant flow…
Pune: Confusion over the four-ward panel system, non-distributed voter slips, multiple voter entries, missing names, EVM glitches that caused polling to stop momentarily, and instances of bogus voting were some of the issues faced by voters as they went to cast their ballots to elect corporators in the PMC and PCMC elections on Thursday.Across the…
Pune: Leaders across party lines in Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation on Thursday evening claimed that around 54% voter turnout would favour their respective outfits, while the Opposition fired favouritism salvo at the State Election Commission.MP Murlidhar Mohol, the BJP in-charge for Pune, said a repeat of assembly polls was expected in Pune, when…
Pune: The Akhil Bharatiya Grahak Panchayat has written to chief minister Devendra Fadnavis alleging that Maharashtra’s consumer protection system had weakened, limiting citizens’ access to justice. The group flagged poor infrastructure, acute staff shortage and multiple consumer commissions functioning from the same premises.The consumer rights group said in its letter that all three consumer commissions…
Pune: The city’s elderly population has always demonstrated high electoral enthusiasm, but many of them were left frustrated on Thursday. A combination of “confusing” four-ward panel system, poorly allocated polling booths, and strict identity card requirements forced several senior citizens to return home without casting their ballots.The primary grievance among seniors was the haphazard allocation…
PUNE: The highly anticipated Sharad Pawar–Ajit Pawar family reunion for the Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad municipal elections — their traditional strongholds — appears to have largely faltered, with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) taking a commanding lead in both cities.Counting of votes indicate that the BJP has surged ahead of the NCP–NCP (SP) alliance, led by…
