Shiv Sena minister, MLA join opposition chorus in demanding rectification in voters list

Buldhana, Oct 16 (PTI) Amid the opposition chorus to rectify anomalies in the voters list, ruling Shiv Sena MLA Sanjay Gaikwad made a similar demand and asked the poll body to remove dual voters and those who have died but figure in the list.

Talking to reporters, Gaikwad said the voter should also be linked to Aadhar Card and death certificate. So after the voter dies, his or her name can be immediately deleted from the list.

"Why is the Election Commission not deleting dual voters and those who figure in the list despite having died," Gaikwad asked, adding that there are voters in the list who resided in the district 30 years ago. He pegged the figure of such voters at a lakh.

The Election Commission has frozen the voters list on July 25 but what about those who have become eligible to vote after the cut-off date, he questioned.

In Ratnagiri, Shiv Sena minister Yogesh Kadam said if there is demand to rectify anomalies then it will also be the demand of his party.

"There is nothing wrong with it. The EC should make rectifications if there are dual voters in the voters list. It will also have our support," said Kadam, who is the Minister of State in the Home (Urban) department.

In Mumbai, NCP (SP) leader Rohit Pawar alleged there were malpractices such as registration of bogus voters, bulk deletion of genuine voters and double registration of voters after the unfavourable results for the BJP-led Mahayuti in the Lok Sabha elections.

"Unfavourable" voters were shown as dead, and bogus voting took place in the name of dead persons, Pawar claimed.

Between 2019 and 2024 Lok Sabha polls, 32 lakh voters were added, which amounted to addition of 6.5 lakh voters per year or 54,000 per month. But between the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and the Maharashtra assembly polls, 48 lakh voters were added in just six months, the NCP (SP) leader pointed out.

In his Karjat Jamkhed assembly constituency, 14,292 voters were added, 5,360 names were deleted and 14,162 duplicate names were inserted in voter rolls after the Lok Sabha elections, he alleged.

There were instances where the Aadhaar card of a voter in one constituency was used for the registration of another voter in a different constituency with the photo and name changed, the NCP (SP) MLA said.

On Wednesday, Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena president Raj Thackeray and leaders of the opposition parties held a press conference citing grave irregularities in the voters list.

However, the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena on Wednesday dismissed the opposition's claims on the "compromised" voters' lists and accused them of indulging in "opportunistic politics" that suits their agenda.

Kalyan MP Shrikant Shinde, son of Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, said the Maha Vikas Aghadi bloc raises only those issues that are politically convenient. PTI PR MR BNM