Supriya Sule alleges use of spy cams in the MLC polls in Maharashtra

Supriya Sule arrives to attend the INDIA BLOC Meeting at Rahul Gandhi’s residence. File | Photo Credit: Sushil Kumar Verma NCP SP leader Supriya Sule on Friday (October 23, 2026) alleged the use of spy cams during voting for the Legislative Council polls for the Pune Teachers and Graduates constituency. She said there were accusations that the ruling BJP was using pens equipped with spy cams for distributing money.“Voters are reporting that such pens are being placed in their pockets, a video is recorded of them casting their vote for the BJP candidate, and after voting, upon showing the video, the promised money is handed over -- this is the kind of activity that is underway,” she posted on her social media handle X.पुणे शिक्षक आणि पदवीधर मतदारसंघाच्या निवडणुकीत भाजपाकडून पैसेवाटपासाठी स्पायकॅम असलेल्या पेनचा वापर केला जात असल्याच्या तक्रारी समोर येत आहेत. मतदारांच्या खिशाला असे पेन लावून, भाजपाच्या उमेदवाराला मतदान केल्याचा व्हिडिओ रेकॉर्ड करायचा आणि मतदानानंतर तो दाखविल्यावर ठरलेले पैसे द्यायचे, असा प्रकार सुरू असल्याचे मतदार सांगत आहेत. या तक्रारी अत्यंत गंभीर आणि चिंताजनक आहेत. मतदानाची गोपनीयता आणि मतदारांचे स्वातंत्र्य धोक्यात आणणाऱ्या या प्रकाराची निवडणूक आयोगाने व शासनाने तातडीने दखल घेऊन सखोल चौकशी करावी आणि दोषींवर कठोर कारवाई करावी. लोकशाहीच्या मूलभूत तत्त्वांना हरताळ फासणारे असे प्रकार कोणत्याही परिस्थितीत खपवून घेता कामा नयेत. निवडणूक प्रक्रिया निष्पक्ष, निर्भय आणि पारदर्शक वातावरणात पार पडलीच पाहिजे. @ECISVEEP @MaharashtraSEC @CMOMaharashtra— Supriya Sule (@supriya_sule) October 23, 2026Calling these complaints “extremely serious and concerning,” she appealed to the Election Commission and the government to take note of them. “It jeopardises the secrecy of voting and independence of voters. Practices that trample upon the fundamental principles of democracy must not be tolerated under any circumstances,” she said, appealing that the election should be held in fair, fearless and transparent environment.She tagged the Election Commission, Maharashtra State Election Commission and the Chief Minister’s Office in her post. Election to Legislative Council are conducted by the Chief Electoral Office of Maharashtra.Also read | Congress names candidates for Maharashtra MLC pollsWhen asked if they had received any complaints about it, sources in Maharashtra CEO said there was no formal complaint in the matter so far. “We have not received any complaints. If there are such allegations, we will ask the booth-level staff not to allow pens in the voting centre. Pens are not needed inside,” sources in the Maharashtra CEO told we will ask the booth-level staff not to allow pens in the voting centre as well.Meanwhile, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said he was not aware of what a spy pen is. “I do not know what a spy pen is. What is a spy pen? How is it? If Supriya tai sends me the details, I will look into it,” Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said in Nagpur.Money distribution allegationsMeanwhile, these elections are also marred by allegations of distribution of money. OBC leader Lakshman Hake has claimed that the ruling Mahayuti has distributed ₹15,000 to each graduate and teacher voter. Shiv Sena UBT leader Sanjay Raut claimed that ₹10,000 were being distributed to each voter. “The drought-hit farmers are getting ₹5,000 per family. But the voters are getting ₹10,000 each,” he said.Polling for five seatsPolling for five Teachers’ and Graduates’ constituencies in the Maharashtra Legislative Council was held on Friday (October 16, 2026). It was held between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. The counting of votes is scheduled on October 27.The names of the five constituencies are - Pune Division Graduates’ Constituency; Nagpur Division Graduates’ Constituency; Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar Graduates’ Constituency; Pune Division Teachers’ Constituency; Amravati Division Teachers’ Constituency. A total of 1,068,072 voters are registered across 2,419 polling stations for these five seats.As per official voting figures till 12 noon on Friday (October 16), Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar Graduates’ division recorded 20.84% voting; Pune Graduates’ division recorded 23.41%; Nagpur Graduates division 23.93% voting. For the two teachers’ constituencies, Amravati division recorded 36.24% votes and Pune division recorded 31.34$ votes. Published - October 23, 2026 04:18 pm IST