Amid allegations of fraud and irregularities during the Maharashtra civic body elections last month, two fresh incidents hinting at glaring lapses from the part of poll officials were reported during the Zilla Parishad elections on Saturday.
According to PTI news agency and other media reports, in two polling booths of Akluj and Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, minor sons of political leaders were allegedly found to have voted during the Zilla Parishad elections.
In the first incident, a 14-year-old boy, accompanied by his candidate father, Arjun Sinh Mohite Patil, allegedly cast a vote in a polling booth at Yashwant Nagar in Akluj.
Patil is the NCP (SP) candidate from Malshiras in Solapur.
A video of the incident that went viral on social media shows Patil's son standing next to him and pressing the EVM button during the polls held on Saturday.
Later, Mohite Patil justified the action saying the boy only wanted to see how voting is done.
"My son wanted to see how a vote is cast and that is why I took him inside. The polling officials raised objections, but I requested them to allow him to stand next to me while I cast my vote. I do not think there is anything objectionable in this," he said.
In another incident, Paithan's Shiv Sena MLA Vilas Bhumre reportedly entered the booth with his minor son during voting. He took the 10-year-old child close to the electronic voting machine and allowed indelible ink to be applied to his finger.
As per the election rules, only registered voters are permitted near the electronic voting machine.
Responding to the incident, District collector Deelip Swami said that the Election Commission has sought a detailed explanation regarding the allegation.
"The incident is serious. A thorough inquiry will be conducted, and responsibility will be fixed. Action will be taken against the presiding officer and the staff member who applied the ink," he said.