Uddhav, Aaditya Thackeray Raise Alarm Over ‘Bogus’ Voting, Vow To Protect BMC From BJP Control – Delhi News Daily

Thackeray emphasised that checking and rectifying the voter rolls ahead of upcoming local body elections is crucial. (X)

The Shiv Sena (UBT) on Monday kicked off its campaign for the upcoming local body polls with a fiery rally that doubled as a call to arms for its cadre.

Party chief Uddhav Thackeray addressed the gathering of leaders and workers and made it clear that this election would be fought not just on political grounds but also on the integrity of the voter lists.

At the party’s Nirdhar Melava (Determination Rally) in Mumbai, he acknowledged that the party’s failure to thoroughly scrutinise the electoral rolls during the 20204 assembly elections had proved costly.

“We won’t repeat that mistake again,” he told the crowd, urging every unit chief to verify voter lists at the booth level and identify anomalies to prevent bogus voting.

“After breaking Shiv Sena and NCP, the BJP now wants to capture Mumbai Municipal Corporation — but we won’t allow that. When Amit Shah comes to Mumbai after the BMC polls, let him see the saffron flag of Shiv Sena UBT flying high,” he said.

He also took a dig at the BJP for attempting to create communal rifts ahead of elections. Referring to the recent Shaniwarwada incident, he accused the BJP of using “purification” events to divide communities. “Whenever they do such things, remember — elections are near,” Uddhav warned, drawing loud applause from party workers.

Further, party leader and Worli MLA Aadtiya Thackeray claimed that there were several discrepancies in the voter lists of his Worli constituency and alleged that bogus voting took place during last year’s Maharashtra assembly elections.

The Yuva Sena chief, in a detailed presentation, modelled on Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s recent demonstration in Delhi, highlighted how the alleged errors were committed and the potential impact they could have on the upcoming Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections.

According to him, 643 cases of gender mismatches were found, which the Election Commission attributed to printing errors. Additionally, his team identified 28 voters without EPIC (Elector’s Photo Identity Card) numbers, and 133 voters with duplicate EPIC numbers.

Thackeray also pointed out other inconsistencies, including 502 voters where the father’s name and the voter’s name were identical, and 720 cases where the voter’s surname differed from the father’s, with most such entries being male voters.

“In one instance, a person who had passed away and whose name was deleted during the Lok Sabha elections reappeared on the list for the state assembly polls with a different EPIC number,” Thackeray said, questioning the accuracy of the voter rolls.

Comparing figures between 2024’s Lok Sabha and Maharashtra assembly elections, Thackeray highlighted an increase of around 16,000 voters in his constituency, Worli, but alleged that over 19,000 anomalies were detected during verification.

“All of us were expecting the MVA to form the government in the last assembly elections, but the results surprised everyone. Today, I am showing how a bogus voter list could have influenced that outcome,” he said.

With Monday’s ‘Nirdhar Rally’, Uddhav Thackeray sent a clear signal that rooting out bogus voters will be a top priority for Shiv Sena (UBT) before the municipal elections.