Polling to 29 municipal corporations across Maharashtra on Thursday was marked by clashes, allegations of bogus voting, cash distribution claims and technical snags in Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs), casting a shadow over an otherwise routine civic exercise.

Officials, however, sought to play down the situation in Mumbai, the state’s largest civic body and the most closely watched contest of the day. They maintained that the city did not witness any serious disturbance during voting.

“There were only simple model code of conduct-related incidents in the country's commercial capital,” a police official said. Outside Mumbai, disruptions were reported from several cities and towns.

EVMs developed technical problems in some wards of Nagpur, Amravati, Shirgaon, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar (Kanya Vidyalaya), Akola (Pink Polling Center) and Dhule, an official said.

Reports of bogus voting surfaced from Sangli, Virar, Thane (Kajuwadi), Malegaon (Ward 9), Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar (Ward 24), Pune (Ward 3 and Ward 40), Ahilyanagar and Pimpri Chinchwad (Golande School), he added.

At Golande School in Pimpri Chinchwad, the polling station saw chaos after a rumour spread that voting had been halted due to bogus voting. Allegations of bogus voting were also raised by different groups in Pune and Ahilyanagar, the official pointed out.

Clashes between rival political workers were reported from multiple locations during the day.

“In Amravati, Shiv Sena candidates clashed with another group. Police intervened and removed everyone from the spot. A clash took place between BJP workers at Manvel Pada polling station in Virar, including verbal abuse directed at a voter. A scuffle was reported between Shiv Sena and BJP workers at Deolali polling station in Nashik,” the official said.

In Ichalkaranji, a dispute broke out between BJP and Shiv Sena (UBT) groups over allegations of money distribution. Dhule witnessed one of the more serious disruptions, where an EVM was damaged during a fight between two groups.

“On Thursday morning, two groups had a scuffle in a school in ward number 18 in Dhule, following which some persons entered the polling booth and damaged an EVM. The poll process was stalled for over an hour due to this. It restarted after a new EVM was put in place,” the official said.

Political tensions were also visible in Akola, where candidates of the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and the BJP confronted each other, with supporters exchanging verbal barbs.

“In Akola, candidates of the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and BJP charged at each other, while their supporters indulged in a verbal spat,” the official added.

Further clashes were reported from Solapur, Bhandup and Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar.

“A physical fight broke out between AIMIM and Congress workers at Solapur. In Bhandup, a clash occurred between candidates of Shiv Sena and Shiv Sena (UBT). Supporters of two candidates scuffled in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, resulting in some sustaining serious injuries,” he said.

In a separate incident, a case was registered against the husband of a BJP candidate after a photograph of an EVM taken while he was voting went viral on social media, the official said.