Police in Maharashtra’s Pune district registered a case on Tuesday, against a Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) candidate contesting the local body elections for allegedly conducting a religious ritual on an Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) inside a polling booth in Bhor. The incident occurred during elections held for 264 municipal councils and nagar panchayats across the state.
The complaint was filed after the polling centre in charge approached the authorities, reporting a violation of the model code of conduct.
According to Bhor division, returning officer Prajakta Ghorpade, the ritual took place after the mock poll had been completed. She stated that “performing such acts inside the booth clearly breaches election guidelines.”
She further mentioned that the centre in charge attempted to stop the candidate and his wife from carrying out the ritual, but they continued despite the warnings and performed the puja on the EVM.
A mock poll is conducted before voting begins to ensure that the Electronic Voting Machine is functioning correctly.
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