Like Oppn, ruling Sena MLA seeks postponement of local polls for removal of 'duplicate' voters

Mumbai, Nov 5 (PTI) Amid Opposition's demand for corrections in "faulty" electoral rolls, ruling Shiv Sena MLA Sanjay Gaikwad also urged the Election Commission on Wednesday to postpone the local body polls by at least 10 days so that the names of "duplicate" voters can be removed from the lists.

He said bogus voting could lead to dishonest candidates winning the polls.

Elections to 246 municipal councils and 42 nagar panchayats in Maharashtra will take place on December 2 and votes will be counted on December 3, State Election Commissioner Dinesh Waghmare said on Tuesday.

However, election schedule for 29 municipal corporations, 32 zilla parishads, and 336 panchayat samitis where polls are also due, is yet to be announced.

Gaikwad, who belongs to the Shiv Sena led by Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and represents the Buldhana assembly seat, said, "The Election Commission of India has not deleted duplicate names from the voters' list. If the elections are postponed by just 10 days, it would be possible to correct these errors." The names of thousands of voters in Buldhana district alone were repeated, he claimed, and sought to know if the poll body planned to seek written guarantees from lakhs of voters across the state to confirm the list's accuracy.

In Buldhana city, about 8,000 duplicate names were found after six months of scrutiny, he said.

Questioning the poll panel's capacity to prepare the final list within four to five days, Gaikwad said, "Bogus voting could result in dishonest candidates winning." "The EC should directly mark such entries with a stamp of 'deleted' remark to ensure transparency in the electoral process," he said.

Last month also, the legislator had demanded removal of the names of dual voters as well as the dead ones from the lists.

Opposition alliance Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) of the Shiv Sena (UBT), NCP (SP), and Congress on Tuesday said the EC was pushing ahead with the polls without making any corrections in the voters' list, including duplication of names.

On November 1, the MVA constituents, along with Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), held a protest march - 'Satyacha Morcha' (march for truth) - against alleged irregularities in the voters list.

The Opposition accused the EC of turning a blind eye to alleged voters list irregularities like multiple entries, wrongful deletions, and additions etc, and asserted the local body polls in Maharashtra should go ahead only after these shortcomings are rectified. PTI ND NP