Mumbai (Maharashtra)

Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray on Thursday reiterated his allegations of irregularities in the Maharashtra local body elections, accusing the government of being obsessed with power and calling it "shameless".

Speaking to reporters here, he claimed that the Election Commission (EC) had deployed old voting machines and introduced a new system called "PADU".

The Printing Auxiliary Display Unit (PADU) serves as a backup in case of an emergency or a technical error when connecting the voting units to the control unit.

"On top of that, they have installed old machines, and yesterday Raj and Sanjay were together; they have brought a new thing called 'PADU'. They are so obsessed with grabbing power that I have never seen such a shameless government," Uddhav Thackeray told reporters.

Thackeray further alleged widespread voter-related issues, stating that complaints were pouring in from several areas. He also raised concerns over polling procedures and claimed that the indelible ink applied to voters' fingers could be rubbed off.

"There are many places from where complaints are coming in--some people's names have completely disappeared, some people don't know where they are supposed to vote, nor is anyone telling them. At the same time, for the first time, it is being experienced that the ink that is applied (on the finger) can be rubbed off, and because of this, these people are creating irregularities. That is why I said--what does this Election Commission or the commissioner even do, and for what are they taking a salary?" he said.

This comes after he levelled allegations of electoral malpractice happening in the ongoing local body polls across 29 municipal corporations in Maharashtra.

Thackeray took a jibe at the poll body, asking whether they had "hired a sanitiser agency" to allow for the ink to be removed so easily.

"Has a sanitiser agency hired by the Election Commission? I think action should be taken against the Election Commissioner. What have they done in the last nine years? The Election Commission is a servant, not a king. I urge you to come out in large numbers and vote," he said.

"There are many people who are not aware of what their polling booth is...so many problems are coming up," he added.

Earlier, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray also alleged electoral malpractice, including the alleged removal of the indelible ink.

"Till now, the ink that used to be applied--now a new pen has been introduced, and complaints are coming about that pen. If sanitiser is applied, the ink gets erased. Now all that remains is that ink is applied, then you come out, erase the ink, and then go back inside and vote again. I want to inform all of you about how the system is being run. When we started this, the intention in one way or another was to win elections," he said.

Following the allegations, the State Election Commissioner (SEC) clarified that attempting to erase the ink applied on a voter's finger and thereby trying to create confusion among voters is a malpractice. The SEC will take appropriate legal action if anyone tries to erase the ink and tries to vote again.

The SEC has insisted that even if someone tries to commit malpractice, erasing the ink does not allow the person to vote again.

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The SEC said in an official statement, "Necessary safeguards in this regard have already been put in place. Once a voter has cast their vote, a record of it is maintained. Therefore, merely erasing the ink does not enable a voter who has committed such malpractice to vote again."

Polling for BMC and 28 other municipal corporations commenced on Thursday morning at 7.30 am, and will continue till 5.30 pm, with vote counting scheduled to begin on Friday, January 16.