Dissatisfied with results: Maha village to re-poll via ballot papers

Mumbai: After the recent poll results published by the Election Commission of India (ECI) served dissatisfaction among voters, a village in Maharashtra’s Solapur decided to conduct a re-vote on Tuesday using ballot papers.

The repoll is happening in the Markadwadi village, which comes under the Malshiras Assembly constituency, a seat reserved for the Scheduled castes. In the published result, the Malshiras NCP (SP) candidate Uttam Jankar defeated BJP's Ram Satpute in Malshiras. However, the ECI data revealed that Satpute received 1,003 votes from Markadwadi village against Jankar’s 843, which sparked outrage among the villagers. The villagers are largely supporters of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government, which was humiliatingly defeated in the state polls.

Being served with a massive setback, MVA only managed to win 46 seats as Congress won 16, NCP (SP) 10 and Shiv Sena (UBT) 20 seats. BJP-allied Mahayuti meanwhile swept the polls, winning 230 of 288 seats, and BJP emerged as the single largest party with 132 seats. Its allies Shiv Sena and Ajith Pawar’s NCP got 57 and 41 respectively.

A Markwadi resident commented that they do not trust the ECI data and wanted to verify the count by conducting their own voting process using ballot papers, India Today reported. Villagers witnessed banners being erected urging people to participate in the polling. However, their request to appoint government officials to oversee the poll was denied.

Meanwhile, the Solapur district administration expressed concern over the development, citing potential tensions. Notices have been issued to villagers to refrain from conducting the re-vote, and heavy police personnel have been deployed in the area.