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Thane: Thane’s civic poll preparations witnessed both administrative scrutiny and political churn on Sunday, as the election department identified over 16,000 duplicate voters in the city’s electoral rolls, while seat-sharing negotiations within the ruling Mahayuti alliance remained inconclusive.
According to officials, as many as 16,574 voters were marked as ‘duplicate’ after their names and photographs appeared more than once in the electoral rolls. The identification followed a detailed review initiated by the Thane election administration, which examined around 83,645 potential duplicate entries. After scrutiny, officials found that in 67,071 cases, the names and photographs did not match, ruling them out as duplicates.
Will Duplicate Voters Be Allowed To Vote?
“Following the review, the double asterisk mark against 16,574 duplicate voters will be retained in the electoral rolls, while the marks against the others will be removed,” said deputy commissioner Umesh Birari, as quoted by The Times of India. He clarified that voters flagged as duplicates will not be disenfranchised. “They will be allowed to cast their vote, but only after submitting an undertaking in the prescribed format declaring that they are voting only once for the current elections,” Birari added.
BJP Demanding More Seats Than Offered
Even as electoral rolls were being cleaned up, political uncertainty continued within the Mahayuti alliance of the BJP and Shiv Sena in Thane city. Reports quoting party insiders said a deadlock over nearly 10 seats has stalled seat-sharing talks till late Sunday evening. Sources indicated that the BJP was offered 40 seats, a proposal that triggered discontent among party workers, who are demanding at least 10 additional seats from various parts of the city.
The proposal has reportedly been forwarded to senior Mahayuti leaders, with a final decision expected late Sunday or Monday. Confirming the ongoing discussions, BJP MLA Sanjay Kelkar said the party remained committed to contesting as part of the alliance. “Talks are scheduled late Sunday and we expect to finalise the seat-sharing by Monday,” he said, as quoted by TOI, adding that the BJP hoped to secure more seats based on its electoral strength.
The uncertainty has begun to reflect at the grassroots level, with leaders from both parties wary of possible rebellion. A section of BJP workers is reportedly considering backing independent candidates in an erstwhile Shiv Sena stronghold in one of the Majiwada–Manpada wards. Adding to the tension, a large banner declaring Thane a BJP bastion was put up in deputy chief minister Eknath Shinde’s assembly constituency on Saturday.
Shiv Sena workers, meanwhile, have stepped up mobilisation in BJP-dominated areas such as Naupada and Vartak Nagar, claiming welfare initiatives launched during Shinde’s tenure have boosted the party’s popularity. Leaders from both sides admitted that disgruntled aspirants could contest independently, risking vote division.
Amid the Sena-BJP impasse, former NCP corporators Najeeb Mulla and Suhas Desai filed their nominations on Saturday. Sena MP Naresh Mhaske clarified that the NCP had earlier decided to go solo and was not part of the alliance talks. Separately, the Maha Vikas Aghadi said it was finalising its own seat-sharing formula, likely to be announced by Monday.
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