MLC polls in graduates, teachers seats | Unusual discrepancy: Voter’s name recorded as ‘bombspot’ in Marathi

An unexpected error has emerged in the registration of voters for the forthcoming Maharashtra Legislative Council elections, scheduled for October 23. A voter's name listed as 'Prashant Dadasahebanchi Bombspot' in the Marathi edition of the Satara district voter roll in the Pune Division Teachers' constituency has caught attention.

This name can be found at entry number 30 in part number 218 of the Satara district teachers' voter roll. However, the English version of the same voter roll, published on January 12, 2026, lists the name as 'Prashant Dadasaheb Bomble'. Both versions were released on the same day.

In this case, the discrepancy occurs in a graduate's constituency in Aurangabad, Pune, and Nagpur divisions, as well as in two teacher's constituencies in Amravati and Pune divisions. The Maharashtra Legislative Council elections are special polls where a fraction of the Legislative Council members are elected by graduates and another fraction are elected by teachers.

In Maharashtra, a state with a bicameral legislature, one-twelfth of the total Legislative Council members are elected by graduates and another one-twelfth are elected by teachers.

The issue of erroneous entries in the voter rolls was raised by NCP (SP) leader Rohit Pawar on X, questioning the state of democracy in light of such errors. Wai tehsildar Sonali Metkari clarified to The Indian Express that the details are entered into the digital system in English unicode, and the corresponding Marathi version is generated automatically, which seems to have an error.

The English roll is submitted to the Election Commission, but not the Marathi version. The error has been noted and a correction will be published soon.