Alleging that there are 96 lakh fake voters in the electoral rolls, of which around eight lakh are in Mumbai and an equal number in Thane, the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) has dared the State Election Commission (SEC) and Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) to hold elections without rectifying voter lists.
MNS chief Raj Thackeray warned, “If you [SEC and CEO] want to hold elections peacefully, first fix the errors in the electoral rolls. Let me see how the elections are held.” On Sunday, Thackeray addressed party workers at the NESCO Centre in Goregaon, Mumbai.
Elections to the BMC, 28 other municipal corporations, and other local bodies are expected to take place before January 31, 2026, as per the Supreme Court’s deadline. The last BMC elections were held in 2017, and every corporator’s five-year term ended in 2022.
Thackeray, during his speech, claimed that he had concrete information about 96 lakh false voters in all the state election voter lists. “Around 8 to 8.5 lakh are in Mumbai, and there’s an equal number in Thane. Similar errors are in Pune, Nashik and other parts of the state,” the MNS chief claimed.
Thackeray further launched a sharp attack on the Election Commission and alleged that election results were already “fixed” and questioned the point of citizens standing in long queues to exercise their right and
political parties contesting polls if there was “match-fixing”.
On October 14 and 15, a delegation of Opposition parties met with the SEC and CEO. During the meeting, Thackeray, citing massive irregularities in the electoral roll, had demanded that elections should not be held unless the errors in the voter lists are rectified.
Escalating his attack on the SEC, Thackeray asked why ruling party leaders were reacting to allegations levelled against the commission. “We are asking questions to the EC, but ruling party leaders are responding to them. I believe this is because our [Opposition’s] questions are hurting the ruling parties, or else why react to questions that are not put to them [ruling parties]?” Raj asked.
The MNS chief also launched a veiled attack on the BJP regime in the state and at the Centre, accusing it of favouring certain industrialists. “The government is doing development on the outskirts of Mumbai merely to benefit Adani and Ambani,” Thackeray alleged.
He further stated that the Navi Mumbai airport and the proposed airport at Palghar were nothing but a plan to dilute Mumbai’s importance. “Development is done to take away everything from Mumbai. Unfortunately,
the Marathi people, too, are helping the government to meet its goals,” Thackeray added.
Video comparison
Thackeray uttered his famous catchphrase “Lav re toh video” and played old clips of then-Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi levelling allegations of rigging in voter lists and current Maharashtra MLAs talking about similar irregularities.
Thackeray said, “I am also saying the same thing as what others [Modi] were saying earlier, and a section of ruling party leaders are now speaking about the Election Commission and errors in the voter lists.”
Thackeray urged voters to stay alert and instructed party workers to visit every home and cross-check the electoral rolls. “I request citizens to cooperate with party workers to clean the rolls,” Thackeray stated.
