Maharashtra Local Body Polls: 600+ Voters at Two Coaching Institutes In Nanded
600+ voters linked to two coaching institutes, 3000+ without address: concerns over voter list integrity in Nanded.
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On 20 November, the Maharashtra State Election Commission (SEC) published the draft voter rolls for the upcoming Municipal Corporation elections, tentatively scheduled for early 2026. Political parties were given a seven-day window to raise objections about discrepancies in the lists. However, Congress and Shiv Sena (UBT) have both requested an extension of this deadline.
Aaditya Thackeray of Shiv Sena (UBT) tweeted that the voter list is riddled with issues, such as duplicate and triplicate entries, fake addresses, and identity cards lacking essential details like EPIC numbers, photos, and addresses. Despite these claims, the poll body has not yet addressed these concerns.
The Quint independently analysed the draft voter list for Ward No. 5 in Nanded Waghala Corporation, which has 23,661 registered voters, and we found several anomalies.
Over 600 voters were registered at two NEET coaching institutes, and 3,587 entries listed 'Not Applicable' (NA) for addresses. Additionally, duplicate entries with bogus addresses were discovered.
(Before you proceed, a small appeal: At The Quint, we've been dedicated in our coverage of the Election Commission of India and discrepancies in voter rolls. Some of our stories came even before political parties took note of this issue. If you believe in our work, support us by becoming a member.)
2 Coaching Institutes, 600+ Voters
At least 600 voters were registered using the addresses of two coaching institutes, IIB Career Institute and RCC Pattern Coaching. Nearly 400 registrations were linked to IIB, while over 200 were registered under RCC.
(Source: Maharashtra State Election Commission)
Dashrath Patil, MD and CEO of IIB Career Institute, told The Quint that these students had moved out long ago and were added to the voter rolls ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
"These students are not here now. They were added as voters last year before the Lok Sabha elections," he said.
"The Collector at the time was given a target to enroll as many voters to the list as possible. Registration drives were held at coaching institutes and even in schools. These students don't live here now. Earlier too, nobody lived on the premises of the institute. Most of them had rental accommodation nearby," Patil added.
The critical question is: what address was used for registration when these students were enrolled?
A Booth Level Officer (BLO) from the area confirmed that party functionaries often accompany officials during mass registration drives, creating immense pressure to meet targets and leaving little time for verification.
"Party functionaries accompany us during mass registration drives. There is immense pressure to register to everyone who shows up and very little time for verification," a Booth Level Officer (BLO) in the area explained.
"These voters must have brought their Aadhaar Cards. But if the Aadhaar had the address of their native place then they could have not have been registered on the rolls in Nanded. Hence, the address of the Institutes was used instead," he added. "From top to bottom, everybody wants to meet the targets."
The BLO added that names on the list are usually verified during Summary Revisions but no such verification has happened in Nanded since last year's Assembly elections.
Curious Case of Address 'Not Applicable'
In the list, over 3,500 entries had 'NA' marked against the address field. Several others had '0' and '-' written in front of it.
(Source: Maharashtra State Election Commission)
The Election Commission of India had previously explained that the address field is left blank in the case of people who do not have a house.
Even in that context, 3,500+ voters out of 23,000 not having a registered address creates leaves room for questions.
In several cases we also found bogus entries in the address field further emphasising on the poor shape of the voter list.
What Are The Authorities Saying?
When contacted, Rahul Kardile, Nanded District Collector, said he was unaware of these discrepancies.
"I wasn't aware of these discrepancies. If there are any problems with the voter list they will definitely be fixed before the elections. This is a huge corporation with thousands of voters. Such small discrepancies might arise from time to time. Regarding the students, Nanded is a coaching hub. It is possible that students were added to the rolls," he said.
Previously, Aaditya Thackeray had alleged that even in Mumbai Municipal Corporation's voter list, for nearly 7 lakh voters, information such as house number/address is not available at all.