Mumbai SIR protest: Raj, Uddhav Thackeray announce joint march on October 4

Raj and Uddhav Thackeray. File pic

Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) founder Raj Thackeray and Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray on Saturday announced a joint public protest march in Mumbai on October 4 against the Election Commission of India and the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process, and appealed to people across Maharashtra to participate.

In a joint statement, the two leaders accused the Election Commission of deceiving voters and said it "seems to be acting as if it is a mere branch of the ruling party", news agency IANS reported.

The statement said the march was against the "gross deception of voters carried out under the guise of 'SIR' (special intensive revision)".

While the MNS and Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) are taking the lead in organising the protest, the Thackeray cousins stressed that it would be a people's march and not remain limited to one or two political parties.

"This is a rally of the people. To ensure it does not remain confined to a single party but becomes the collective voice of the entire political system and the citizenry, we will reach out to all political parties to join this front," the statement read.

The leaders also appealed to citizens to participate in large numbers.

"We earnestly appeal to the people of Maharashtra to participate in this march in large numbers. Details regarding the time and venue of the march will be announced soon. Let us meet at this mass protest against 'SIR'! Come, let us unite to save the country's democracy and its Constitution!" Raj Thackeray and Uddhav Thackeray said.

The venue and exact time of the October 4 Mumbai march will be announced later, the leaders said.

Abhijeet Dipke thanks Aaditya Thackeray

Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray, in a post on social media platform X, wrote: "If Gyanesh doesn't go, Mumbai will step out against Vote Chori from 2nd October, in huge numbers!!"

Responding to the post, Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) founder Abhijeet Dipke thanked Aaditya Thackeray for extending support to the "call to save democracy".

"All Indians, irrespective of their political parties or ideologies, must come together against S.I.R," wrote Dipke.

Raj Thackeray had earlier demanded SIR cancellation

Earlier, Raj Thackeray had demanded the immediate cancellation of the ongoing SIR process. He accused the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of leveraging key institutional figures to maintain an "endless grip on power" and called upon Opposition parties across the country to unite for a massive agitation to bring back paper ballots.

(With IANS inputs)