Duplicate entries, phantom addresses delay publication of Panvel voters’ list

The date for publication of polling station-wise voter rolls has been pushed back from December 12 to December 22

Navi Mumbai: A spiralling controversy over irregularities in the voters’ list has forced the Panvel administration to reverify thousands of entries, pushing back the publication of polling station-wise voter rolls from December 12 to December 22.

Duplicate entries, phantom addresses delay publication of Panvel voters’ list

The controversy erupted shortly after publication of the draft ward-wise voters list on November 20, when former corporator Aravind Mhatre alleged that 268 voters in Tondre village were listed as “sons” of one individual. Calling it a historic blunder, Mhatre said, “If one man can have 268 sons on paper, how many more fake voters are hidden in the rolls?”

The Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) subsequently amplified the allegation via social media platforms, saying it was “proof that the rolls have collapsed under negligence”. MNS functionaries also flagged other discrepancies, including clusters of voters mapped to a single house and suspected bogus entries in multiple wards.

In Karanjade, residents said that 268 voters had been listed under a single house number, raising suspicions of mass padding of the rolls. In Pargaon, voters were assigned to a building named Kailaspoorva Balaji Niwas, which locals insisted did not exist. Activists said the discovery of such “phantom structures” indicated organised voter importation ahead of the elections.

The biggest embarrassment for the administration came from a disclosure by former MLA Balaram Patil, who revealed that sub-divisional officer and deputy electoral registration officer Pawa) Chandak, responsible for cleansing duplicate entries, appeared twice in the draft rolls. Chandak’s child too was listed thrice across different wards, which “laid bare the systemic collapse” of the verification process, Patil claimed.

“Every election cycle, we see the same problems — duplicate names, wrong addresses, mismatched wards. Officials promise corrections, yet the same errors reappear. People naturally start questioning whether the election can be trusted,” he said.

Chandak admitted the duplications, saying the draft stage exists precisely for corrections.

“My name and my child’s name have been repeated as we stayed at Khandeshwar earlier but now live in Panvel. These entries will be verified and corrected. We have always voted only at one location,” Chandak said, urging residents to use the objection window.

But opposition parties and civic groups argued that duplication involving the very officer tasked with preventing it undermined the credibility of the clean-up exercise.

The complaints and allegations have forced the Panvel administration to extend the objection period. Publication of the final authenticated voter list, earlier scheduled for December 5, has been postponed to December 10, while the publication of polling-station lists has been shifted from December 8 to December 15. Detailed polling station–wise voter rolls, initially due on December 12, will now be released on December 22.

Municipal commissioner Mangesh Chitale said his office was committed to delivering an accurate final roll and that each objection would be examined. The State Election Commission too has assured that anomalies, including suspected duplicate voters, will be flagged with a double star on the voters’ list.

67% turnout in phase 1

The 264 municipal councils and nagar panchayats that went to polls on Tuesday registered 67.63% turnout, as per the latest data collated by the State Election Commission (SEC). The highest turnout for the first phase of local body polls, at 88.43%, was registered at the Murgud nagar panchayat in Kolhapur, while lowest turnout, at 49.24%, was in the Talegaon Dabhade council in Pune.

“The nagar panchayats that are small in size and number of wards have registered higher turnout as the elections here are fought at micro level. Comparatively, the municipal councils, which are bigger bodies at tehsil level registered lower turnout,” an SEC official said.