Ahead of the meeting of Opposition leaders with election officials in Maharashtra, Congress leader Balasaheb Thorat on Wednesday claimed there were several errors in the state voters` list and they were not rectified properly, reported news agency PTI.
The Opposition leaders will meet senior poll officials for the second consecutive day on Wednesday to raise concerns over alleged irregularities in the voters` list, ahead of the upcoming local body elections in the state, reported PTI.
Two delegations of Opposition leaders met senior election officials on Tuesday and raised various issues, ranging from questioning why no SIR exercise was carried out in the state, to using VVPAT for polls.
Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Thorat claimed the voters` list in Maharashtra contains “hundreds and thousands of errors”, reported PTI.
“We had requested the election officials to correct it, but it was never done properly. It appears the BJP and those in power do not want a fair and error-free voters list before the local body elections,” he alleged, reported PTI.
Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) leader Bala Nandgaonkar said the discussion held with the poll officials on Tuesday was “unsatisfactory”, hence the Opposition leaders sought another meeting on Wednesday to pursue their concerns.
A delegation comprising leaders from the Maha Vikas Aghadi, the MNS and other Opposition parties is scheduled to meet State Election Commissioner Dinesh Waghmare and Chief Electoral Officer S Chockalingam on Wednesday, reported PTI.
NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar, Shiv Sena (UBT) head Uddhav Thackeray, MNS president Raj Thackeray, and Congress leaders Balasaheb Thorat and Varsha Gaikwad are likely to be present during the meet.
During the meetings on Tuesday, the Opposition leaders demanded rectification of anomalies in the voters` list before the local body polls, likely to be held in the next two months or early next year.
The leaders also sought to know why the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) (of voters` rolls) is not being carried out in Maharashtra like Bihar (where it was conducted before the assembly elections, scheduled next month).
“Will the Election Commission do an SIR-like exercise in Maharashtra like Bihar?” a memorandum submitted by the leaders stated, reported PTI.
The delegation claimed that migrants from outside Maharashtra who have settled in large numbers in Mumbai, Thane, Kalyan, Dombivili, Nashik, and Pune have been registered as voters locally and in their home states.
The leaders sought the Election Commission`s response on the steps to deal with the dual registrations.
The Opposition leaders also demanded that the VVPAT (Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail) system be allowed in the local body polls.
The memorandum demanded voting on ballot papers for the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections if the SEC does not allow VVPATs.
(With inputs from PTI)
