Maha Police Prevent ‘Mock’ Ballot Paper Voting in EVM-Critical Solapur Village

Solapur (Maharashtra), Dec 3 (NationPress) The Solapur Police intervened on Tuesday to stop a ‘mock ballot paper poll’ in Markadwadi village, aimed at alleviating persistent concerns regarding the results from Electronic Voting Machines (EVM) in the recent Maharashtra Assembly elections.

This mock ballot initiative, described as ‘unprecedented’, was spearheaded by the Nationalist Congress Party (SP) MLA Uttamrao S. Jankar, who narrowly defeated the incumbent legislator from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Ram V. Satpute, in the reserved Malshiras (SC) seat by a margin of just 13,417 votes.

After the election results were declared on November 23, preparations for the mock polling were enthusiastically underway for a week. However, local police insisted that Jankar and his supporters cancel the event, threatening strict repercussions for anyone attempting to cast even a single vote.

In the village, there are approximately 2,000 eligible voters, with 1,900 having participated in the elections. Jankar expressed that the villagers suspected foul play in the counting process, as the reported votes indicated that Satpute, the defeated BJP candidate, received more votes than Jankar.

To address these concerns, the Markadwadi community planned to conduct the mock polls with officially printed ballot papers displaying all candidates (similar to the EVMs), ensuring voter verification, and utilizing sealed tin ballot boxes, which generated significant excitement among residents and political observers.

The police enforced prohibitory orders under Section 144 and warned of severe consequences “if even one person dared to vote.” Consequently, around 400 individuals who had gathered for the mock polls left, while the remainder chose not to attend.

“We have advised the villagers to adhere to the law and avoid large gatherings to prevent disturbances. We also informed the organizers that if any vote is cast, we would confiscate all election materials, including ballot papers and boxes,” a local police official stated to the media.

A frustrated Jankar remarked that due to police threats to halt the mock voting and seize polling materials, “there is no point in proceeding with this exercise.”

Following discussions with the police, Jankar convened an impromptu meeting with village elders and his supporters, ultimately deciding to cancel the mock poll but planning to engage in other forms of protests against EVMs at local and district levels in the near future.

Jankar noted that in his stronghold of Markadwadi, he received only 843 votes, while Satpute's tally was significantly higher at 1,003 votes, which has left the villagers perplexed.

During media engagements, local activists claimed that around 1,400 votes had been cast for Jankar, while Satpute might have received approximately 502 votes, raising serious suspicions about the results.

To verify how votes for Jankar were recorded for Satpute “through the EVMs,” villagers sought to conduct the mock poll to quell their doubts, although BJP supporters opted to boycott the event.

The efforts of the Markadwadi villagers received commendations from Maha Vikas Aghadi leaders such as Nana Patole, Jankar, Sanjay Raut, Kishore Tiwari, Kiran Mane, and social activist-lawyer Asim Sarode, who criticized the authorities for obstructing the initiative, especially since it would not have influenced the outcome of the state elections in any way.

The November 2024 Assembly elections resulted in a decisive victory for the Mahayuti coalition comprising the Shiv Sena-BJP-Nationalist Congress Party, effectively sidelining the MVA’s Congress-Shiv Sena (UBT)-NCP (SP) and diminishing the prospects of other parties like AIMIM, MNS, or VBA.

Nevertheless, the election results have been contested by candidates from various parties, with at least 22 individuals from different factions requesting recounts and other measures to address their concerns regarding EVMs.

(Quaid Najmi can be contacted at: qnajmi@gmail.com)