Maharashtra civic polls: Sena MLA Santosh Bangar ‘closely guides’ woman voter at EVM, booked

An FIR was registered against Shiv Sena MLA Santosh Bangar after he allegedly violated polling rules inside a booth in Kalamnuri’s Bazaar area in Maharashtra’s Hingoli district during the civic body elections on Tuesday.

Bangar, who is the MLA for Hingoli, had arrived at a booth early in the morning to cast his vote. However, a video that surfaced soon after showed the MLA purportedly guiding a woman voter at the electronic voting machine (EVM), closely instructing her while she pressed the button—an act that directly breaches the secrecy of voting.

The footage also allegedly captured him shouting political slogans inside the polling booth and using his mobile phone—both acts strictly prohibited on the premises. The video, which has gone viral on social media, shows Bangar purportedly shouting slogans such as “Swargiya Balasaheb Thackeray cha vijay aso (Long live the late Bal Thackeray)” and “Eknath Shinde aage badho, hum tumhare saath hain (Eknath Shinde, move ahead, we are with you),” even as polling staff look on.