Lokmat News Network
Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar:
The work of finalising the voters’ lists for the municipal corporation elections is underway at a war footing. From 10 am on Friday, civic officials and staff camped at the Maulana Azad Research Centre to complete the finalisation process. They remained busy with this task until Saturday evening. Notably, not a single employee went home at night. Complete details of all modifications have been submitted to the State Election Commission (SEC). The lists will be finalised only after receiving its approval, sources said.
For the first time, the municipal corporation election in the city is being held on a prabhag-based system. As a result, the administration faced unprecedented pressure while preparing the voters’ lists. Municipal teams verified whether voters were actually residing within the boundaries of their respective wards. The administration claims it took utmost care to ensure that voters from one prabhag were not shifted to another. Even so, if any voter has mistakenly been placed in a different prabhag, they will have to vote in that prabhag only and will not be allowed to vote in the prabhag where they actually reside.
A total of 7,567 objections were received regarding the voters’ lists. Site inspections were carried out for each objection, and according to sources, corrections were made in most cases. The SEC had directed that the voters’ list be published on December 15. Therefore, from 10 am on Friday, teams working on corrections, along with officers and staff from ten different departments, remained stationed at the venue. Deputy commissioner and election officer Vikas Navale, deputy commissioner Aparna Thete, chief garden superintendent Vijay Patil, and deputy engineer Sanjay Chamle worked throughout the night. Not a single officer or employee went home. Work continued on Saturday as well, and by evening, the finalised lists were sent to the SEC for approval.
No names will be deleted
After the objection period, leaders from the BJP and some other parties submitted representations to the election branch claiming that voters from other districts were included in the city’s voters’ list. The municipal corporation has sought guidance from the SEC in this regard as well. The civic administration has no authority to delete the name of even a single voter. Even if a voter is deceased, the name cannot be removed.