Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut on Friday said his party has assured people not to be afraid as the BJP-led Mahayuti took massive lead in BMC elections. He said the voting pattern that has been going on in a city like Mumbai is a serious matter. He added that the names of thousands of people, who have even voted in the Assembly elections, are missing in areas where Shiv Sena (UBT), MNS or Congress.
Election Commission is not ready to listen to us: Sanjay Raut
"The voting pattern that has been going on in a city like Mumbai is a serious matter. Names of thousands of people, who have even voted in the Assembly elections, are missing in areas where Shiv Sena (UBT), MNS or Congress. The EVM machine does not work properly... The Election Commission is not ready to listen to us. Yesterday, a meeting was held between the senior BJP leaders and the Election Commission staff, why? The Code of Conduct is still in place,” he said.
He also said, "The exit polls arrived even before the voting percentage... The BJP started celebrating its victory... We have assured the people not to be afraid..."
Early leads being reported from vote counting of the Brihanmumbai Mumbai Corporation (BMC) elections showed the Bharatiya Janata Party-Shiv Sena Mahayuti alliance leading in around 52 wards, according to preliminary data that is coming in from the counting of postal ballots.
BJP has a lead in 35 seats
The official figures from the SEC and the BMC are awaited. According to the postal ballots counted till now, BJP has a lead in 35 seats, Shiv Sena 17 seats.
For the Thackeray brothers the morning is yet to bring good news as the Shiv Sena (UBT) is reported to be leading in 22 seats. The Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), led by Raj Thackeray, is leading in 8 seats till now. The Congress has 4 leads from the initial count.
The recently concluded Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) recorded a voter turnout of 52.94 per cent, according to the data released by the State Election Commissioner (SEC) on Friday.
15,931 candidates were in the fray in the 29 civic corporations
Polling for 2,869 seats spread across 893 wards in these municipal corporations, including 227 in Mumbai, took place on Thursday. As many as 15,931 candidates were in the fray in the 29 civic corporations, which had 3.48 crore eligible voters.
Around 50 per cent polling was recorded in the 29 municipal corporations, State Election Commissioner Dinesh Waghmare said after the end of voting.
A voter turnout of 52.94 per cent was recorded in the Mumbai civic polls, down from 55.53 per cent in the last elections in 2017, officials said on Friday.
In the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), whose annual budget is over Rs 74, 400 crore, 1,700 candidates are vying for 227 seats in elections being held after a four-year delay. Except for Mumbai, the other urban bodies have multi-member wards.
These were the first BMC polls since the 2022 split in the Shiv Sena when Eknath Shinde, now Deputy Chief Minister, broke away with a majority of the party's MLAs and allied with the BJP to become the chief minister.
