Maharashtra village calls off 'repoll' plan with ballot papers following police intervention

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A group of villagers from Malsharias assembly segment in Maharashtra asking a "re-election" with ballot papers relented on Tuesday and gave up their plan following police intervention, said the NCP (SP) winning candidate from the seat, PTI reported.

A senior police official stated that they had threatened the villagers with legal action if they carried out their "polling" plan.

Earlier, locals of Markadwadi village under Malshiras segment in Solapur district had put up banners announcing a "repoll" to be held on December 3, PTI reported.

The village comes under the Malshiras assembly constituency, where Sharad Pawar-led NCP candidate Uttam Jankar defeated BJP's Ram Satpute by 13, 147 votes in the November 20 Maharastra Elections 2024, the results of which were declared on November 2.

Though Jankar won the seat, Markadwadi residents claimed he won less votes in their village against Satpute, which was not possible, and cast doubt on the Electronic Voting Machine (EVMs).

The Malshiras sub-divisional magistrate on Monday imposed prohibitory orders, under section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita from December 2 to 5 in the area in order to avoid any conflict or law and order situation due to the "repoll" plan of locals, an official earlier said, PTI cited.

Heavy police presence was in place as a group of village residents prepared for the "repoll" using vote papers on Tuesday morning.

Later, Deputy Superintendent of Police (Malshiras division) Narayan Shirgavkar said they had a detailed meeting with the villagers and NCP (SP) leader Jankar, PTI reported.

"We explained to them procedures in the law and also warned that even if one vote is cast, cases will be registered," Shirgavkar said.

Jankar said he had a meeting with police officials and also held discussions with the villagers, after which they cancelled the "repoll" plan.

"We had a meeting with police officials who said they will seize all the material at the polling station and will file cases," the NCP (SP) leader said.

"After the meeting with police, we had a discussion with villagers. Their opinion was that if the administration is not allowing the polling to take place, there will be chaos and conflict between police and residents and as a result, the process will not take place and people will leave the polling station," he said.

According to Jankar, the villagers agreed to halt the "polling" process after taking into account the police administration's position.

"However, we will continue our protest by other means. We will try to take this issue to various authorities such as the Election Commission and judiciary and we will not stop until we get justice," he said.

Earlier, local residents Ranjit Markad said that the village had 2,000 eligible voters on the polling day and 1,900 of them excercised their franchise, PTI reported.

"The village always supported Jankar in the past, but this time, as per the counting of votes through EVMs, Jankar got 843 votes while BJP candidate Satpute polled 1,003 votes. This is not possible and we do not trust these EVM numbers, that is why we decided to conduct the repoll through ballot papers," said Markad.

The EVM results appear questionable, and a delegation of villagers addressed the district administration to request a repoll using ballot papers, but the request was denied, according to another villager.

In the recently finished Maharashtra elections, the Mahayuti won 230 of the state's 288 assembly seats, with the BJP winning 132, the Shiv Sena winning 57, and Ajit Pawar's NCP taking 41. The Maha Vikas Aghadi, which included the Shiv Sena (UBT), the Congress, and Sharad Pawar's NCP (SP), secured only 46 seats.

(With inputs from PTI)