05 October,2026 09:58 AM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondent
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. File Pic
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Sunday took a swipe at Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray over their protest against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, calling the cousins "Ghajinis" and accusing them of using the Election Commission to express their frustration after being rejected by voters.
Fadnavis said the protest march in Mumbai was an attempt by the Thackeray cousins to regain political ground and claimed that the turnout was lower than expected.
"The morcha was an attempt to find back their lost ground. Despite all the hype, the attendance at the march was thin," Fadnavis told reporters on the sidelines of a programme in Nagpur.
Fadnavis referred to the 2008 film Ghajini, whose protagonist suffers from severe memory loss, while questioning the Thackerays' criticism of Kumar in connection with the 2024 Maharashtra elections.
"They have become like 'Ghajini'. So I want to remind these 'Ghajinis' that Gyanesh Kumar became Chief Election Commissioner in 2025, whereas elections in Maharashtra were held in 2024, and the SIR began in 2026.
"How can the SIR of 2026 and the person who became Chief Election Commissioner in 2025 affect the 2024 elections?" said Fadnavis.
His remarks referred specifically to the timeline of Kumar's appointment, the 2024 Maharashtra elections and the subsequent SIR exercise. Current reporting also confirms that the Thackeray-led protest focused on Kumar's resignation and the scrapping of the SIR in Maharashtra.
Earlier on Sunday, Uddhav and Raj Thackeray jointly led the Virat Garjana Morcha in Mumbai against the Election Commission. The protest began in south Mumbai and culminated near the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation headquarters.
The Thackeray cousins demanded Kumar's removal or resignation over alleged irregularities in the SIR of electoral rolls. Raj Thackeray also called for the SIR to be scrapped and demanded a return to paper ballots for elections.
Congress leaders Balasaheb Thorat and Vijay Wadettiwar participated in the rally, along with NCP (SP) leaders Jayant Patil, Shashikant Shinde, Jitendra Awhad and Anil Deshmukh.
The protest was presented by its organisers as a joint opposition demonstration, although several senior opposition leaders were absent from the rally.
Party flags were not permitted during the march, with participants instead asked to carry the national Tricolour. The arrangement was intended to give the demonstration a broader identity beyond the individual political parties involved.
Fadnavis said the protest reflected what he described as frustration among the Thackeray cousins following electoral setbacks.
In a further dig at the two leaders, he said political statements should at least appear believable.
"But they are blatantly speaking falsehoods, and when people have rejected them, they vent their frustration here on the Election Commission," he added.
(With inputs from PTI)
