During their second meeting with the State Election Commission (SEC), the Opposition raised concerns over alleged discrepancies in the voters’ list and demanded that it not be used for the upcoming local body and civic elections.
A Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) delegation, comprising Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray, NCP (SP) state chief Jayant Patil, Congress’s Balasaheb Thorat, MNS chief Raj Thackeray, Congress group leader in the State Assembly Vijay Wadettiwar, and others, met State Election Commissioner Dinesh Waghmare and Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) S. Chockalingam.
MVA Leaders Demand Rectification Before Polls
Speaking with the media, Uddhav Thackeray said that they have demanded rectification in the voters’ list and that elections should be held only thereafter.
“The cutoff of July 31 for the voters’ list was unacceptable. Our first focus is to rectify the voter list and then prevent vote theft,” he said.
Jayant Patil claimed that the voters' lists were highly compromised and faulty and should not be used in the upcoming polls. He said that in many cases, the given addresses were either wrong or the voters no longer lived there.
“We showed specific examples to the CEO and the SEC,” said Patil.
Raj Thackeray Seeks Six-Month Delay
Raj Thackeray said elections can be postponed by six months to allow rectifications in the voters’ list.
Balasaheb Thorat added, “The SEC told us that removing objectionable names is not their responsibility. If that is the stance, then how can the upcoming local body polls be expected to be transparent and honest?”
Leaders Question Lack of Intensive Revision
During the meeting, the leaders also sought to know why the special intensive revision (SIR) was not being carried out in Maharashtra, as it was in Bihar. They also demanded voting on ballot papers for the BMC elections if VVPATs were not permitted.
Fadnavis Calls Opposition Meeting a ‘Fiasco’
Meanwhile, reacting to the meeting between Opposition party leaders, the State Election Commissioner, and the CEO, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said the interactions were an attempt to create a false narrative ahead of the local body polls, and termed the exercise a fiasco.
