The Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance, comprising the Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT) and Nationalist Congress Party (SP), along with the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), held a massive protest march in Mumbai on Saturday against alleged irregularities in the voters’ list, reported the PTI.
The Opposition accused the Election Commission of India (ECI) of ignoring widespread discrepancies such as multiple entries, wrongful deletions, and unauthorised additions, which they claimed were benefiting the ruling BJP.
The leaders demanded that local body elections in Maharashtra be held only after these issues were rectified.
The protest, named ‘Satyacha Morcha’ (March for Truth), began from Fashion Street in south Mumbai and concluded at the BMC headquarters, about a kilometre away. Prominent leaders including Uddhav Thackeray, Sharad Pawar, Raj Thackeray, and Balasaheb Thorat participated in the march.
Addressing the crowd, Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray alleged that his name had been uploaded on the government’s ‘Saksham’ app using a fake mobile number.
“I suspect this was done to remove my name from the voters’ list,” he claimed.
Taking a swipe at the BJP, Uddhav Thackeray used a reference from the Bollywood film Sholay to describe the party as an “anaconda”.
“In the film, mothers tell their children to sleep or Gabbar will come. I say, stay awake, or the anaconda will come,” he said, according to the PTI.
Uddhav Thackeray accused the ruling alliance of “stealing” his party, election symbol, and even his father’s name. “And now, they want to steal votes too,” he said, asserting that the Opposition wanted polls to be held but only on a clean electoral roll.
MNS chief Raj Thackeray alleged that there were “lakhs of dual voters” in Mumbai. “
About 4,500 voters have voted in both Kalyan Rural and Malabar Hill constituencies. What is the need to hold elections with such a bogus voter list? Clean it up first,” he demanded.
Raj Thackeray said that since local body polls have already been delayed for five years, waiting another year would not be a problem. He urged party workers to inspect the electoral rolls carefully and take strict action against bogus voters, saying, “Catch them, teach them a lesson, and hand them over to the police,” as per the PTI.
The MNS chief cautioned his party members not to be complacent because of the MNS–Shiv Sena (UBT) partnership. “We have come together for Marathi Hindus and for the people of Maharashtra,” he said.
NCP (SP) supremo Sharad Pawar described the rally as a strong display of unity and determination to protect the Constitution and parliamentary democracy. He accused the BJP-led governments at the Centre and in the state of misusing power to target opponents.
Congress leader Balasaheb Thorat said the issue of “vote theft” was first raised by Rahul Gandhi and was now gaining attention nationwide. “Our objections during the assembly elections were ignored. The voters’ list must be corrected before any new polls are held,” he said, the news agency reported.
Other prominent participants included Congress leaders Naseem Khan, Satej Patil and Bhai Jagtap, and NCP (SP) MP Supriya Sule.
Earlier, Raj Thackeray travelled by Mumbai local train from Dadar to Churchgate with his supporters and party colleague Bala Nandgaonkar, after urging MNS workers earlier in the week to use public transport to attend the rally.
(wit PTI inputs)
