Shiv Sena MLA Sanjay Gaikwad seeks 10-day delay in Maharashtra local body polls over ‘duplicate voters’

Elections to 246 municipal councils and 42 nagar panchayats across Maharashtra are scheduled for December 2, with counting on the next day, State Election Commissioner Dinesh Waghmare announced on Tuesday. However, the poll schedule for 29 municipal corporations, 32 zilla parishads, and 336 panchayat samitis is yet to be declared.

Gaikwad, a legislator from Buldhana, representing the Shiv Sena faction led by Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, alleged that the Election Commission of India failed to delete duplicate names from the voters’ list.

“If elections are postponed by just 10 days, it will be possible to correct these errors,” he said, claiming that thousands of duplicate names exist in Buldhana district alone.

“In Buldhana city, about 8,000 duplicate names were found after six months of scrutiny,” he added, questioning the poll body’s ability to finalise the list within four to five days. “The EC should mark such entries with a ‘deleted’ stamp to ensure transparency in the electoral process,” he suggested.

This is not Gaikwad’s first appeal; last month, he had also demanded that the EC remove the names of dual and deceased voters from the rolls, PTI reported.

Meanwhile, the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), comprising Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray), Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar), and Congress, has accused the poll body of ignoring irregularities such as multiple entries, wrongful deletions, and fake additions in the electoral rolls.

On November 1, the MVA, along with the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) held a protest march, ‘Satyacha Morcha (March for Truth),' alleging serious flaws in the voters’ list. The opposition has demanded that the local body elections be conducted only after all discrepancies are rectified.

Maharashtra local body polls 2025: Congress leader Nitin Raut urges EC action against Ashish Shelar

Congress leader Nitin Raut on Tuesday urged the Maharashtra Election Commission (EC) to take strict action against Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Minister Ashish Shelar, alleging that his recent comments on “appeasement politics” violate election laws and the Model Code of Conduct, news agency PTI reported.

Shelar, on Monday, had accused Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) President Raj Thackeray of practising appeasement politics by pointing out only duplicate Hindu voter names, while allegedly ignoring similar irregularities in the Muslim voter list.

According to PTI, Raut, who represents the Nagpur North Assembly Constituency, filed a formal complaint with EC, calling Shelar’s remarks “highly objectionable” and “legally impermissible”. He said the statement was intended to “create communal division” and “influence voters along religious lines”.

(With PTI inputs)