The State Election Commission is likely to extend the December 5 deadline for filing objections to errors in the BMC draft voter list after parties flagged duplicate entries and major discrepancies. Over 11 lakh duplicate names were identified, prompting a citywide correction drive
Representational Image. File Pic
The State Election Commission (SEC) is likely to extend the last date for filing objections to errors in the voter lists prepared for the upcoming BMC elections. As per the current schedule, December 5 is the final day for citizens and parties to raise objections to the draft rolls published on November 20.
Several opposition parties, including the Shiv Sena (UBT), Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), and the Congress, earlier had also flagged serious discrepancies in the electoral rolls.
These alleged allegations put up by the parties include duplicate entries, incorrect addresses, mismatched ages, and even erroneous gender details. The scale of errors raised major concerns over the accuracy and credibility of the voter lists.
Following objections by the opposition parties, about 11 lakh duplicate names, the SEC and BMC too have agreed to the same and are considering an extension for the date to file objections.
The draft voter list for the BMC polls was released on November 20 and had mentioned December 5 as the last date for filing objections.
Immediately after the announcement, the Thackeray cousins – Uddhav and Raj – signed a letter asking for a minimum 21-day extension for filing objections.
Accordingly, the SEC is considering an extension. A senior official attached to the poll body office, on condition of anonymity, while highlighting this, asserted, "Today or maybe in a day or two a notification for extension of dates will be issued."
According to a roll published, in Mumbai there are 1.03 crore voters in Mumbai, out of which 11 lakh are said to be duplicate names. "Nearly 4.3 lakh names have been enrolled twice or multiple times," said one of the officials.
According to senior civic officials, from November 27 to December 5, a special drive is likely to be organised across the city to rectify the anomalies in the voters list.
The election for the BMC is scheduled before January 31, 2026, as per the deadline set by the Supreme Court. The last elections were held in 2017, and the five-year tenure of the elected corporator for the BMC came to an end in 2022.
However, due to a pending petition over Other Backward Classes (OBC) reservation, the elections were not conducted.
For nearly 25 years the Shiv Sena (undivided) and the BJP ruled the BMC, but their alliance ended in 2017. During that time, Shiv Sena won 84 seats, and BJP managed to clinch victories on 82 seats, whereas MNS managed to win seven (six later joined Uddhav Thackeray’s party), with Congress, NCP and others lagging behind by 29, 9 and 15, respectively.
In 2022, Ekanth Shinde, now one of Maharashtra’s deputy chief ministers, split the Shiv Sena and became chief minister, and most of Uddhav’s corporators subsequently joined Shinde’s faction.
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