Barring a few incidents, voting in Pune largely peaceful

Pune city witnessed largely peaceful polling during the assembly elections on Wednesday, despite isolated incidents of technical glitches with EVMs, missing voter names, and complaints of bogus voting.

Republican Party of India leader Siddharth Dhende highlighted incidents of bogus voting in the Ahmednagar Road area.

“I personally saw over 10 voters who found their votes had already been cast when they arrived. After complaints, the election officer allowed them to vote,” he said.

Santosh Pawar of the Sambhaji Brigade had a similar experience in Khadakwasla.

“When I went to vote at 11 am, I was shocked to learn that someone had already voted in my name. I filed a complaint with the concerned officers and requested an inquiry,” he added.

Civic activist Vivek Velankar criticised the administrative delays.

“This time, voters showed enthusiasm, but the process was slow. If 100% voter turnout were to happen, I doubt the election commission could handle it efficiently,” he remarked.

Pune district collector and election officer Suhas Diwase acknowledged minor issues but emphasized that voting in the city and district remained peaceful overall. Both major political alliances accused each other of distributing money to voters. However, unlike other parts of the state, no major cases of malpractice were reported in Pune.