09 October,2026 08:20 PM IST | Mumbai | Ranjeet Jadhav
Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray. File Pic
Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray has questioned the Election Commission of India (ECI) over alleged discrepancies in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) draft electoral roll, asking where 7.90 lakh voters went after the number of registered voters fell between May and August 2026.
Thackeray also claimed that five lakh voters whose names appeared in the electoral rolls for the Lok Sabha, Maharashtra Assembly and Mumbai civic elections were missing from both the SIR draft roll and the list of Absent, Shifted, Dead or Duplicate (ASDD) voters.
Addressing the issue, Thackeray said his party had initially supported the SIR exercise in Maharashtra, believing it was necessary to identify duplicate and allegedly bogus voters.
"If you ask me, earlier we had faith in SIR in Maharashtra because we thought it was needed. Our Booth Level Agents (BLAs) tried to cover as much ground as possible. In Mumbai, nearly 100 per cent BLAs were deployed, and across several districts, 100 per cent BLAs were stationed," he said.
He explained that BLAs were tasked with accompanying Booth Level Officers (BLOs) during door-to-door enumeration to help prepare an accurate electoral roll.
Thackeray cited alleged irregularities identified by his party during previous elections, including the 2024 Maharashtra Assembly elections. He claimed that 24,500 allegedly fake or bogus voters had been identified in his Worli constituency alone.
Referring to Mumbai's electoral rolls, he said that of the 1.31 crore voters, his party had raised suspicions about 30 lakh entries due to alleged duplicate and multiple registrations, as well as names linked to addresses where, he claimed, no houses existed.
Thackeray further said that the party had submitted a list of 17 lakh allegedly bogus voters to the ECI while studying the electoral roll for the Mumbai civic elections. According to him, the party was assured that the discrepancies would be addressed through the SIR exercise.
However, he questioned the change in the voter count recorded in two communications from the Election Commission.
"On May 26, 2026, we received a letter from the Election Commission which showed the number of voters as 9,86,44,413. On August 31, 2026, we received another letter from the Election Commission which showed the number of voters as 9,78,54,049. We want to know where have the 7,90,364 voters gone?" he said.
Thackeray questioned whether these voters were duplicates or "ghost voters" and directed his criticism at Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
Thackeray also alleged that five lakh voters whose names appeared in the electoral rolls for the Lok Sabha, Assembly and Mumbai civic elections were missing from both the SIR draft roll and the ASDD list.
"These five lakh voters must be in at least one list, either the SIR draft roll or ASDD. The Election Commission has no answer to this," he alleged.
The claims raise questions about the reconciliation of electoral records across different elections. The allegations could not be independently verified from the information provided.
During his presentation, Thackeray highlighted what he described as discrepancies in the electoral roll for the Bhiwandi East Assembly constituency.
He said the constituency had 3,73,659 registered voters, of whom 1,91,691 cast their votes in the 2024 Assembly elections. However, he claimed the SIR draft roll listed only 1,91,446 voters.
Questioning the difference, Thackeray asked whether the missing voters had been classified as duplicates or ghost voters, or had shifted to other states. He argued that their names should have appeared either in the draft roll or the ASDD list.
Thackeray also cited an example from the Mahim Assembly constituency, where he claimed 900 voters were facing difficulties despite having electoral records dating back to 2002.
According to him, the voters' names appeared in the 2002 draft SIR roll and in subsequent electoral records, including the latest SIR draft roll. However, he alleged that their details were not being mapped by the software, prompting the Election Commission to issue notices asking them to establish their eligibility and residence in India.
"If this is the situation in one Assembly constituency, then think what must be the situation in other constituencies," he said.
Thackeray further alleged that in some cases, BLOs and BLAs had not reached voters before they were marked as unmarked or absent, raising concerns about the enumeration process and the accuracy of the draft electoral roll.
