Aaditya meets SEC officials over draft voters’ list, demands thorough review

Shiv Sena (UBT) leaders Aaditya Thackeray on Monday met senior officials of the State Election Commission (SEC) to raise concerns about the draft voters’ list for the upcoming Maharashtra local body elections.

He also handed over a letter to the State Chief Electoral Officer.

Aaditya Thackeray also held a press conference after the meeting and said that people were “desperately waiting” to cast their votes but were facing repeated delays and irregularities. The draft voters’ list, originally expected on November 7 and later on November 14, was finally released on November 20.

He called the delay an alleged “strategic move” by the government to influence the polls.

Aaditya alleged that the ruling alliance had manipulated the voter rolls.

He alleged that wards held by the government showed minimal changes, while opposition-leaning wards had “significant and suspicious” alterations.

Aaditya questioned why the summary of the list did not match the detailed version and criticised the list for not being machine-readable.

Later, in a post on X, he described the draft electoral roll as “absolutely disgraceful and unpardonable” and demanded urgent action from the Election Commission.

He said that the Shiv Sena (UBT) delegation that met the EC officials on Monday have demanded-

– Extending the period for submitting suggestions and objections from seven days to 21 days.

– Allowing bulk objections from political parties and citizens.

– Deploying the full strength of the Commission to investigate errors and possible voter fraud.

Aaditya also highlighted several major discrepancies. He claimed that over a million voters appear multiple times, with some listed as many as seven times. He pointed to 26,319 households showing more than ten voters each, with some addresses containing over 1,000 voters.

These entries total over 8,32,000 and, he said, represent “a fraud, not an error.”

Nearly 700,000 voters, he added, do not have house numbers or proper addresses. He warned that these and other issues suggest potentially fraudulent practices. Thackeray insisted that “one person must have only one vote” and said that if the Election Commission is serious about ensuring free and fair elections, it must correct the draft voters’ list without delay.

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