Reiterating the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA)’s demand for rectification of all the discrepancies in the voters’ lists before the local body polls in the state, Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray on Monday dismissed the ruling BJP’s ‘vote jihad’ charge, saying that no Opposition party, including his own party, had referred to the religion of any bogus voter.
Interacting with the media persons at his Bandra residence immediately after the BJP party leader and Mahayuti minister Ashish Shelar accused the MVA of indulging in “appeasement politics,” Uddhav said: “No opposition party, including the SS (UBT), has referred to the religion of any bogus voters… We never said remove Hindu names or keep Muslim names. We said the list itself is wrong. If Shelar found duplicate names, that means the system is flawed. We will use his evidence in court.”
Taking an ironic dig at Shelar for admitting that there were “irregularities” in the voters’ lists, Uddhav said, “We would like to congratulate Shelar for showing courage and guts to acknowledge that there are anomalies in the voters’ lists.” Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had earlier denied there was any problem in the voters’ lists. The contradiction between Shelar and Fadnavis may be due to some internal dispute between them. Shelar has proven that there is confusion in the voters’ lists.
Slamming the Election Commission of India (ECI) for setting July 1, 2025, as a cut-off date for voter registration for the forthcoming local body elections, the Sena (UBT) chief said, “The ECI and the Centre are scared of Gen Z. That’s why the ECI has said that those turning 18 after July 1 would not be allowed to vote.”
“The Opposition is not against the elections, but it wants the polls to be conducted only after cleaning the electoral rolls. We want all the discrepancies, including duplicate and bogus voters, to be removed from the voters’ lists,” he said.
Uddhav urged the citizens to verify their names in the electoral rolls ahead of the upcoming civic elections. He announced that the party would set up help centres for citizens to verify their names in the voters’ lists. I request that people visit their nearest SS (UBT) ‘shakha’ to check whether their names are correctly listed and to report any errors, omissions, or other discrepancies.
“The people must ensure that they will be able to vote in the coming elections so that we can identify whether new voters (aged 18) are being deprived of their rights,” the Sena (UBT chief) said.
Uddhav appealed to citizens to report any instances of unknown voters registered at their addresses so that necessary corrections can be made in time.
