4 months ago
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Maharashtra Navnirman Sena main Raj Thackeray connected Wednesday (January 14, 2026) slammed the State Election Commission (SEC) for allowing door-to-door canvassing aft the authoritative civic canvass run ended, claiming it was helping the ruling Mahayuti triumph the polls.
Talking to reporters, Mr. Thackeray said the SEC was changing rules connected the eve of the polls, scheduled connected Thursday (January 15, 2026). "The SEC is helping the authorities triumph polls that it has lost," the MNS person claimed.
He asked wherefore the caller "tradition" was introduced conscionable earlier the civic polls and wherefore the regularisation was not determination during the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections. "Why was this concession given? Why was the regularisation changed? Is the SEC determination to bash what the authorities wants?" Mr. Thackeray asked.
Elections to 29 municipal corporations successful the State, including Mumbai, volition beryllium held connected Thursday (January 15). The SEC has prohibited civic canvass candidates from utilizing microphones and moving successful ample groups during door-to-door canvassing, citing its determination to let lone constricted idiosyncratic outreach aft the extremity of the nationalist campaign.
The authoritative nationalist canvassing for the polls ended connected Tuesday (January 13, 2026) evening, but the SEC has said that candidates tin inactive sojourn voters' homes and campaign, provided the fig of persons does not transcend five, and determination is nary usage of mikes.
The canvass assemblage has cited an bid dated February 14, 2012, to clarify that specified idiosyncratic interaction does not magnitude to nationalist canvassing and is taxable to strict conditions.
Mr. Thackeray asked the MNS and state Shiv Sena (UBT) workers to enactment alert and support an oculus connected candidates of the ruling parties, claiming they could administer money.
He besides questioned the determination to instal the Printing Auxiliary Display Unit (PADU), claiming that governmental parties were not adjacent informed portion utilizing these machines during the canvass process. PADU volition beryllium utilized successful the January 15 Mumbai civic polls for the archetypal clip to facilitate ballot counting successful the lawsuit of method glitches successful physics voting machines (EVMs).
They volition enactment arsenic backup units, BMC Commissioner Bhushan Gagrani had said, adding that these, similar the different EVM units, volition stay with Returning Officers and volition beryllium utilized lone successful lawsuit of emergency.
