Maharashtra election chief Dinesh Waghmare under fire over civic poll lapses

Maharashtra State Election Commissioner Dinesh T Waghmare is facing mounting political and public scrutiny after a series of controversies marked the recently concluded municipal corporation elections, pushing the State Election Commission into the spotlight.

The pressure intensified on January 15 when Shiv Sena (UBT) president Uddhav Thackeray demanded Waghmare’s suspension, alleging irregularities in the conduct of the civic polls.

A 1994-batch IAS officer of the Maharashtra cadre, Waghmare took charge as the seventh State Election Commissioner on January 28, 2025, soon after retiring as Additional Chief Secretary. His tenure coincided with one of the largest civic election exercises in the state, involving more than 3.48 crore voters across 29 municipal corporations.

Administrative career

Waghmare holds a BTech in Electronic Engineering from VNIT Nagpur, an MTech in Computer Science from IIT Kharagpur, and an MSc in Development Project Planning from the University of Bradford, UK.

Over a long career in the Maharashtra government, he served as Principal Secretary in the Home, Energy and Social Justice departments, CMD of Maharashtra State Electricity Transmission Company, and Municipal Commissioner of Pimpri Chinchwad and Navi Mumbai. He also served as Divisional Commissioner, Amravati, Collector of Buldhana, headed several Zilla Parishads, and chaired the Nagpur Improvement Trust.

Earlier political controversy

In 2017, Waghmare was drawn into controversy when his son received a government-funded overseas scholarship under a scheme meant for Scheduled Caste students. Opposition parties alleged a conflict of interest. Waghmare maintained that income limits had been relaxed earlier and that students admitted to top-ranked global universities were exempt. No official action followed.

Decisions under scrutiny

As State Election Commissioner, Waghmare has faced criticism over delays in uploading candidates’ affidavits, permission for door-to-door campaigning in the final 48 hours, the use of PADU machines during counting in Mumbai, staggered counting of votes, and the handling of complaints related to unopposed wins and Model Code of Conduct violations.

Polling-day issues, particularly allegations that indelible ink could be wiped off, added to the backlash.

Rejecting the claims, Waghmare said the same ink has been used since 2011, takes 10–12 seconds to dry, and cannot be removed once dry. He warned of strict action in cases of double voting or deliberate misuse and said videos circulating on social media would be investigated.

As opposition pressure grows, the controversy has raised wider questions about electoral transparency and voter confidence in Maharashtra’s high-stakes civic polls.