Maharashtra Opposition unite against ‘faulty’ voter lists; demand correction before civic elections

The Opposition leaders in Maharashtra said that the parties were united in their stand. Pic/videograb/X

The Maharashtra opposition parties on Thursday jointly said that they were united against the alleged ‘faulty' voter lists in state and have demand corrections in it before the upcoming civic elections.

The Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT), Raj Thackeray's Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), Congress, and the Sharad Pawar-led NCP jointly decided to oppose the upcoming civic polls until errors and thee alleged duplicate entries in the voter lists are corrected, an official statement said.

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A joint meeting of opposition leaders was held under the leadership of Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray. MNS chief Raj Thackeray, senior leaders from the Congress, NCP (Sharad Pawar faction), and other opposition parties were also present during the meeting, it said.

The meeting discussed the protest march planned for November 1, during which opposition leaders will demand that the State Election Commission (SEC) remove all bogus and duplicate names from the electoral rolls before conducting elections.

Following the meeting, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Anil Parab, Congress' Sachin Sawant, NCP (SP) leaders Jitendra Awhad and Jayant Patil, MNS leader Nitin Sardesai, and CPI leader Prakash Reddy addressed the press.

They said that the opposition parties were united in their stand.

They asserted that the elections should not be held until the SEC resolves all discrepancies in the voter lists. The parties have accused the Election Commission of negligence and warned that they will continue their protest if necessary.

Following the November 1 protest, opposition leaders are expected to announce their next course of action, with Uddhav Thackeray, Raj Thackeray, and other senior leaders set to lead the movement.

Meanwhile, the Maharashtra State Election Commission (SEC) had on Wednesday directed officials to verify and take necessary measures to remove possible duplicate names in voter lists ahead of coming local body elections in state.

According to the SEC, voter lists prepared by the Election Commission of India (ECI) for Assembly constituencies are used for all local self-government elections, including municipal corporations, municipal councils, nagar panchayats, zilla parishads, and panchayat samitis, without altering original names or addresses.

In the preliminary or final local body voter lists, names suspected to be duplicated are marked with a double asterisk ('').

Local verification will determine whether such entries belong to the same individual or different persons. After preliminary checks of name, gender, address, and photograph, the voter will be asked to submit a declaration specifying the exact polling station or division where they intend to vote. The voter will not be allowed to vote at any other polling station, the SEC statement said on Wednesday.