Maharashtra Oppn to stage protest on Nov 1 to demand removal of ‘bogus voters’ from electoral rolls

Mumbai, Oct 19 (PTI) Opposition parties in Maharashtra will hold a grand rally on November 1 to protest to urge the Election Commission to remove around "one crore bogus voters" from the electoral rolls, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut said on Sunday.

In a hastily called joint press conference at the Sena Bhavan, also addressed by Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) leader Bala Nandgaonkar, NCP (SP) leader Jayant Patil and the Congress' Sachin Sawant, Raut referred to MNS president Raj Thackeray's claim that around 96 lakh "bogus" voters have been added to the voters list of Maharashtra ahead of the local body polls.

He demanded that the poll body must remove around "one crore bogus voters" from the electoral rolls in the state.

He said that ruling party MLAs Manda Mhatre (BJP) and Sanjay Gaikwad (Shiv Sena) have also spoken about the duplication of voters and irregularities in the electoral rolls.

"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 MNS's Raj Thackeray, he said, adding that invitations will also be sent to senior leaders of the Congress.

The Rajya Sabha MP said that 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," Raut said.

Earlier in the day, Raj Thackeray alleged that 96 lakh fake voters have been added to Maharashtra's electoral rolls and challenged the Election Commission, asking how it will hold the local body polls without cleaning up the voters' list.

Pawar, the Thackeray cousins and other opposition leaders met State Election Commissioner Dinesh Waghmare and Chief Electoral Officer S Chockalingam on October 14, submitting representations about alleged discrepancies in the voters' lists.

The Opposition has called for rectification in the electoral rolls and removal of 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 that corrections and updates on the voter lists are being managed securely.

Speaking at the press conference, 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.

This is detrimental to democracy, he said.

MNS leader Nandgaonkar said the poll body has realised that there is a mess, and the November 1 protest will reflect public outcry.

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.

"We expect the poll body to rectify its mistake," Patil said. PTI PR ARU