Over 3 lakh voters in Pune have double entry in electoral roll, PMC says it is powerless to delete names

“If the purity of the electoral roll is asked, over three lakh voters have been found to have appeared twice in the electoral rolls. We have no powers to carry out the deletion of voters received from the State Election Commission, but the list of double entries is with us, which would be used to ensure there is no double voting by the elector,” said Municipal Commissioner Naval Kishore Ram on Thursday.

There are 41 electoral wards in PMC, from which 165 corporators will be elected, including four each from 40 wards and five from one ward. The reservation of wards for women and different categories has already been done.

The state government declared in October that those enrolled in the voters’ list till July 1 will be able to vote in the PMC elections. The maximum number of voters is in ward 9 with 1,60,242 voters, followed by ward 38 with 1,48,769 voters, while the lowest number is in ward no 39, which has 62,205 voters, and ward no 20 with 65,061 voters.

“There is a big difference between the wards with the highest and lowest number of voters. However, this is because the ward with the highest number of voters is mainly formed with newly merged villages where enrollment of new voters has been the maximum due to rapid urbanisation in the area,” said the municipal commissioner.

The list of polling booths will be published on December 8, and the booth-wise voter list will be published on December 12. The suggestion or objection can be only about missing names from the electoral rolls of a local ward if they are included in another ward.

Objections can also be registered in case a name appears in the electoral roll of the PMC local body election but is absent in the electoral roll of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly elections, and clerical mistakes in name, gender, spelling, etc. Besides, a voter can object to a person’s name in the electoral roll of a ward only if the person is part of the same ward; no one from another ward can raise an objection to the inclusion or deletion of a name from any other ward.

Voters have to submit their application for suggestion and objection, along with the supporting document of proof of their residence. In case of multiple objections from voters of the same housing society, a common application, signed by the chairperson and secretary of the housing society on their letterhead, can be submitted. Also, those taking objection to the electoral rolls should be enrolled in the voters’ list of the same ward.

The suggestions and objections will be verified by the local civic body employee who will visit the premises of the voter and collect the relevant documents of the individual regarding his or her stay. The previous five-year term of the elected body in the PMC ended in 2022, and since then, the civic body has been administered by municipal commissioners appointed by the state government.

Elections were delayed due to a reservation quota challenged in the Supreme Court. However, the apex court directed the state government to complete the civic body elections by the end of January next year.

The BJP held power in the PMC in the previous five-year term from 2017 to 2022. However, the BJP, which is part of the Mahayuti alliance along with Ajit Pawar-led NCP and Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena, is likely to contest the PMC civic polls independently.