Mumbai: In a significant development, opposition leaders in Maharashtra have voiced strong concerns over the integrity of the voter list, leading them to demand a postponement of the upcoming local body elections. A joint meeting was held with the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) and the State Election Commission (SEC) where prominent figures such as Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray, and NCP (SP) leader Jayant Patil presented evidence of numerous anomalies.
The leaders highlighted issues like duplicate voter entries, missing addresses, an improbable number of voters in single households, and even voters appearing to be over a century old. Uddhav Thackeray emphasized that the opposition would not tolerate “autocracy in the name of democracy” and insisted that elections should not proceed without rectifying the voter list. He stated, “We will wait for a couple of days for a response from CEO and SEC and then will decide on the further course of action.”
The meeting, which followed a similar session the previous day, remained inconclusive. Key opposition figures, including Uddhav Thackeray, Raj Thackeray, Jayant Patil, and Congress leaders Balasaheb Thorat and Vijay Wadettiwar, were in attendance. NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar had to leave for a prior engagement in Pune.
The opposition stressed that the election commission should function impartially and not appear to favor the ruling party. Uddhav Thackeray also advocated for the use of Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) machines or ballot papers in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) polls.
MNS chief Raj Thackeray pointed out that voters and political parties are central to the election process, and the election commission’s role is primarily to conduct the elections. He expressed his dissatisfaction with the state of the voter list, questioning why these complaints had only surfaced after 2014. He reiterated the demand for a postponement of the local body elections until the necessary corrections are made.
Further updates are expected once the Election Commission provides its response.