Congress seeks offline acceptance of nomination forms for upcoming Maharashtra local body polls

Mumbai, Nov 13 (PTI) The Congress on Thursday urged the Maharashtra State Election Commission (SEC) to allow offline submission of nomination forms for the upcoming local body elections, claiming the online process was cumbersome and could lead to disqualification of candidates due to technical glitches.

Congress Legislature Party leader Vijay Wadettiwar said the party delegation met State Election Commissioner Dinesh Waghmare and requested that physical forms also be accepted along with the online submissions.

"The nomination form runs into about 20 pages and seeks details, such as votes polled and election expenses from the previous polls, information already available with the commission. The complicated process can result in last-minute disqualification of candidates if their online submissions face technical issues," he said.

Wadettiwar said he and state Congress president Harshawardhan Sapkal had conveyed this concern directly to the SEC.

On political developments, Wadettiwar alleged that Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar would soon be forced out of power due to growing internal contradictions within the ruling Mahayuti alliance.

He accused the Ajit Pawar-led faction of the NCP of playing a "pro-BJP role" in Pune, Pimpri-Chinchwad, Satara, Sangli and parts of Marathwada, and said the Pune land scam involving Parth Pawar had exposed the party's "weakness".

"The situation is being created where Ajit Pawar will have to exit power. The first blow within the Mahayuti will be faced by his party," Wadettiwar claimed.

On local alliances for the civic polls, the Congress leader said discussions were on and the picture would be clear by the last date for withdrawal of nominations.

The last date of withdrawal is November 17 for the December 2 municipal council and nagar panchayat polls. Counting of votes will be held on December 3. PTI MR NP