Mumbai, Jan 16 (IANS) As Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) President Raj Thackeray and Shiv Sena(UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray raised objections over the functioning of the State Election Commission, particularly regarding the use of removable ink, the Shiv Sena on Friday refuted the allegations, stating that there was no issue with the ink. The party said that a similar fake narrative was created during the Lok Sabha elections as well.

Speaking to IANS, Shiv Sena leader Manisha Kayande said, “This is the same issue that Uddhav Thackeray raised during the Lok Sabha elections. Even at that time, a false narrative was created in the first two or three months. Now, he has started a new tactic of holding press conferences while voting is still underway. Look at my finger, the ink is clearly visible. I even tried removing it yesterday using nail polish remover, but it did not come off.”

Another Shiv Sena leader, Shaina NC, also dismissed the allegations and said, “There is no issue with the ink. In a couple of hours, when the election results are announced, all these excuses by the Shiv Sena(UBT) will fall flat. Blaming the Election Commission, EVMs, currency notes, or making allegations about the misuse of ink will be completely baseless. If those making such claims had actually stepped out and worked on the ground for the last 25 years, the results would have been in their favour.”

On Thursday, Shiv Sena(UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray, along with his family, cast his vote in the Mumbai Municipal Corporation elections. While interacting with the media, he strongly criticised the State Election Commission (SEC). He expressed anger over the issue of ‘duplicate’ voters and claimed that the ink applied to voters’ fingers could be easily removed. He questioned what the Election Commissioners, officers, and staff had been doing over the past nine years since the last Mumbai Municipal Corporation election and demanded an explanation for their inaction.

Raj Thackeray also criticised the use of marker pens instead of traditional ink on voters’ fingers. He had questioned whether development meant “allowing voters to erase ink using sanitiser and vote again”.

Meanwhile, the counting for the Maharashtra Municipal Corporation elections is underway.

The process is being carried out across designated counting centres in Mumbai, Pune, Thane, and other major cities under tight security.

Early postal ballot trends and the first rounds of EVM counting were emerging. Due to the ‘phased counting’ method and the large number of candidates (over 1,700 in Mumbai alone), final official declarations for many wards may stretch to late evening.

The State Election Commission (SEC) reported a respectable turnout, which often signals a desire for change or a highly polarised electorate.

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation reported 52.94 per cent turnout (highest in Bhandup at 64.53 per cent, lowest in Colaba at 20.88 per cent), Pune (PMC): 54 per cent, Pimpri-Chinchwad (PCMC): 58 per cent, and Kolhapur: 70 per cent.

Elections were originally scheduled for 2,869 seats, including 227 in the BMC. They were held for 2,801 seats as 68 candidates were elected unopposed.

A total of 3.48 crore voters decided the fate of 15,931 candidates, including 1,729 in Mumbai.

The battlegrounds included Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Navi Mumbai, Vasai-Virar, Kalyan-Dombivli, Kolhapur, Nagpur, Mumbai, Solapur, Amravati, Akola, Nashik, Pimpri-Chinchwad, Pune, Ulhasnagar, Thane, Chandrapur, Parbhani, Mira-Bhayandar, Nanded-Waghala, Panvel, Bhiwandi-Nizampur, Latur, Malegaon, Sangli-Miraj-Kupwad, Jalgaon, Ahilyanagar, Dhule, Jalna and Ichalkaranji.

–IANS

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