Pune, 16 January 2026: Vote counting in Pune Municipal Corporation’s Ward 25, under the Vishrambaugwada zonal office, was stopped once again on following renewed disruption at the counting centre.
The fresh halt occurred after Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) candidate Rupali Patil Thombre escalated her protest by climbing the security fence inside the counting premises while registering objections over the counting process.
The incident led to chaos at the centre, forcing election officials to immediately stop the counting to maintain law and order.
Earlier in the day, counting had already been suspended for nearly two hours after Thombre raised objections during the initial rounds. After she met the Returning Officer and formally submitted her complaint, counting was allowed to resume. However, the process was again brought to a halt following the latest incident.
Following the disruption, several candidates announced a boycott of the counting process and appealed to their party workers to protest against what they termed irregularities. Security at the counting centre was subsequently tightened, and officials began reviewing the situation before taking a call on restarting the process.
Despite repeated interruptions, early trends from Ward 25 indicate that all candidates from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) are leading. Election authorities have appealed to all candidates and supporters to maintain restraint and allow the democratic process to continue smoothly.