University Of Mumbai Senate Election Voter List Shrinks To 13,406 Amid Discrepancy Allegations

Mumbai: Only 13,406 graduates have been deemed eligible for the University of Mumbai's (MU) senate electoral rolls, the lowest in four election cycles after the varsity scrapped the previous list of more than 90,000 voters following discrepancy allegations from BJP MLA Ashish Shelar and Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad.

Details On The Reduced Electoral Roll For MU Senate Elections

The length of electoral roll for registered graduates is barely a fifth of 62,000 voters signed up in 2018, when the last elections were held. Of 26,994 graduates of the university who applied to vote in the senate polls, only 13,394 were approved while an almost equal number – 13,550 – were rejected for a variety of reasons such as illegible degree number, mismatch in the applicant’s details with those on the attached documents and failing to upload any of the required documents. However, even after two rounds of review only 12 new electors got added to the list published on Wednesday.

The MU is redoing the voter registration process for the graduates’ constituency of the senate, the top statutory body of the varsity, following allegations of discrepancies. While a three-member committee appointed by MU refuted the claims about names being repeated in the list, it recommended redoing the enrolment process as it faulted the varsity for making Aadhaar mandatory for voter registration, despite there being no such provision in the rules.

An Underwhelming Response

The MU received an underwhelming response to its fresh voter enrolment drive for the senate elections, with only a fraction of the previously registered voters applying to participate in the poll process. In the earlier drive, a record 1.13 lakh candidates had applied to be voters, of which 94,631 were deemed eligible, with only 16% of the applications getting rejected.

Opposition student bodies have accused MU of purposely delaying and delaying the electoral process to aid the state’s ruling alliance. “The university is making a mockery of democracy,” said Santosh Gangurde, state chief organiser, Maharashtra Navnirman Vidyarthi Sena.