Mumbai, Oct 19 (PTI) Opposition parties on Sunday claimed that electoral rolls in Maharashtra contain around “one crore bogus voters” and announced to organise a joint rally in Mumbai on November 1 to urge Election Commission to remove the dubious entries.
The BJP reacted by accusing the opposition parties of trying to set a fake narrative ahead of the upcoming elections to local bodies.
Addressing booth-level agents of MNS, the party head Raj Thackeray claimed that 96 lakh fake voters have been added to the voter’s lists ahead of the upcoming local body polls. He dared the Election Commission to conduct elections until the voters list is cleaned.
After Thackeray addressed booth-level workers of MNS, Sanjay Raut of Shiv Sena (UBT), Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) leader Bala Nandgaonkar, NCP (SP) leader Jayant Patil and the Congress’ Sachin Sawant addressed a press conference.
Earlier in the day, Thackeray said holding elections by rigging the voters’ lists will amount to the biggest insult to electors. He urged his party workers to verify the voters’ list to find out fake voters.
Various Opposition parties, including the Shiv Sena (UBT), Congress, NCP (SP) and MNS, recently met the State Election Commissioner and Chief Electoral Officer, while claiming that there are duplicate names in the electoral rolls across different addresses and assembly segments.
The Opposition has called for rectifying the electoral rolls and removing anomalies ahead of the rural and urban body elections, which are to be completed by January 31, 2026.
The Maharashtra State Election Commission on Saturday said that no political party can tamper with the electoral rolls and those corrections and updates on the voter lists are being managed securely.
“An attempt is being made to finish regional parties. I have learnt that 96 lakh fake voters have been enrolled in the voters’ lists in Maharashtra for the upcoming polls. They had also done this during the state polls as well,” the MNS chief said.
He claimed that 8 to 10 lakh fake voters have been added in Mumbai and 8 to 8.5 lakh electors in Thane, Pune, and Nashik.
“They have done it in every village and city. Will polls take place like this in the country? If polls are held like this, then it is an insult to voters in Maharashtra and the country,” he said.
Thackeray stated that the ruling parties feel hurt when the Opposition hits out at the Election Commission.
“The Election Commission should show how it conducts the local body polls before cleaning up the electoral rolls. If polls have to be held peacefully, then clean the voters’ lists first,” he said.
Without naming the ruling BJP, Thackeray said it wants to face the polls by putting fake electors in the voters’ list.
It does not matter whether you cast a vote or not. The match has been fixed. What kind of democracy is this?” he asked.
When the BJP was in the Opposition, it used to make the same charges against the poll body, Thackeray claimed.
Raising the issue of Marathi pride, Thackeray claimed India’s first Home Minister Vallabhbhai Patel had opposed the merging of Mumbai with Maharashtra.
He alleged potential shift of operations of Mumbai airport to the Navi Mumbai international airport and handling of cargo to the upcoming Vadhavan Port (in Palghar district).
“The land around the Navi Mumbai Airport and port will be given to the Adani group. I will not tolerate development built over the tomb of Marathi people,” he added.
Reacting to Thackeray’s claim, BJP leader Pravin Darekar said his speech reflected a political agenda.
He said the pro-people governance of Mahayuti has left no scope for attacking the government, which prompted opposition parties to make such claims with an eye on elections.
Darekar accused Thackeray of trying to set a fake narrative by alleging flaws in electoral rolls. He wanted to confuse the people by replicating the similar strategy adopted by the opposition during the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
“If the voters list is faulty then they should be rectified,” Darekar said.
Addressing the opposition presser, Sanjay Raut demanded that the poll body must remove around “one crore bogus voters” from the electoral rolls in the state.
He flagged remarks purportedly made by MLAs Manda Mhatre (BJP) and Sanjay Gaikwad (Shiv Sena) regarding the duplication of voters and irregularities in the voters lists.
“Electoral rolls should be clean. All major parties apart from the ruling parties are raising this issue. The Election Commission is not ready to accept that the voters’ lists are not clean. We have to give the EC a jolt by hitting the streets. So on November 1, there will be a grand rally by all opposition parties against the EC’s corrupt act in Mumbai,” Raut said.
Lakhs of people who have lost their voting rights will take to the streets and show their strength, he said.
The rally will be led by NCP (SP) president Sharad Pawar, Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray and Raj Thackeray, he said, adding that invitations will also be sent to senior leaders of the Congress.
Raut said Pawar and the Thackeray cousins will address another press conference on the issue in the next few days.
“If the EC is going to throw a challenge before us, we are ready to accept it,” he added.
Congress leader Sachin Sawant claimed that there were irregularities in the voters’ list and opposition leaders are not being given a chance to address them.
Terming the EC’s response as “unsatisfactory”, NCP (SP) leader Jayant Patil said the Opposition is also ready to have the ruling parties be part of the morcha, which is against those who want to harm democracy. PTI PR GK ARU NSK
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