7 months ago
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A delegation of Opposition leaders connected Tuesday met Maharashtra’s Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) S. Chokkalingam to emblem alleged irregularities successful the predetermination process, urging him to instrumentality “concrete actions” against malpractices up of the upcoming section assemblage elections.
The delegation, comprising NCP (SP) president Sharad Pawar, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena main Raj Thackeray, Shiv Sena (UBT) main Uddhav Thackeray, and elder Congress person Balasaheb Thorat, submitted a memorandum to the CEO seeking enactment against alleged manipulation of elector data, ballot tampering and irregularities successful the voters’ list.
Attacking the Opposition, Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde said the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) has a wont of “levelling these allegations erstwhile the BJP wins. They themselves don’t cognize what they privation and support doubting the EC”.
‘Shared the evidence’
After the meeting, NCP (SP) person Jayant Patil said, “We shared the discrepancies that happened successful the 2024 Assembly predetermination with grounds and asked that the section assemblage polls beryllium held done ballot papers.”
He added, “The discussions volition proceed time with representatives of the State Election Commission and the Central Election Commission, arsenic they sought clip to respond to the queries raised.”
If the EC does not behaviour the upcoming polls utilizing insubstantial ballots, the Opposition has sought the usage of VVPATs (Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trails) for the upcoming polls. It besides asked the EC to people details of the excluded voters connected its website up of the elections.
“We inactive judge that the EC is independent; however… the communal antheral expects factual enactment connected the allegations,” work the memorandum. It added, “Why are the governmental parties oregon voters not capable to spot the database oregon details of the names that were excluded?”
Pointing retired that caller voters were added to the rolls betwixt October 2024 and July 2025, the Opposition asked the canvass assemblage wherefore it had not made the voters’ database public.
“Are determination immoderate governmental ulterior motives successful hiding this list, oregon is determination unit from someone? If so, the Election Commission should intelligibly authorities this, and if the database is not to beryllium published, past wherefore marque a farce of an election?” work the memorandum.
Saying that migrants from extracurricular the State had registered arsenic voters successful Mumbai, Pune, Thane, Kalyan-Dombivli, and Nashik, the delegation besides sought to cognize the steps the EC would instrumentality to woody with dual elector registrations.
‘No alteration successful rolls’
In response, Maharashtra State Election Commissioner Dinesh Waghmare said the voters’ lists prepared during past year’s Assembly predetermination “will beryllium utilized arsenic is” for the upcoming agrarian and municipality assemblage polls with a notified cut-off day of July 1, 2025.
While finalising ward-wise elector lists, entries from the Assembly conception lists volition beryllium retained, helium noted. Mr. Waghmare added that electors tin rise corrections for clerical errors oregon discrepancies.
Preparations are nether mode for elections successful each 29 municipal corporations, including Mumbai, 246 municipal councils, 42 municipality councils, 32 zilla parishads, and 336 panchayat samitis crossed Maharashtra.
