The Opposition on Friday accused the Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde-led government of being allegedly getting the names of voters removed from the electoral rolls leaning towards the opposition parties, ahead of the State Legislative Assembly elections.
Addressing a conference, leaders of the Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT) and NCP (SP) claimed there is no transparency in the functioning of the Election Commission (ECI), and its officers are working under pressure from the ruling parties. They said the MVA would raise the issue with the ECI.
Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole and other leaders have called for the removal of the State Director General of Police, Rashmi Shukla, to ensure the forthcoming elections are conducted in a free and fair manner.
Patole alleged that the Election Commission of India’s “Form no. 7”, which is intended to delete names from the voters’ list for various reasons, is being misused to remove the names of voters leaning towards opposition parties.
He accused CM Shinde and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis of orchestrating this activity.
Patole further elaborated that names of voters inclined towards the Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT), and NCP (SP) are being deliberately deleted from the voters’ list to achieve a political advantage. He firmly stated that this practice is motivated by the fear of the BJP losing in the elections.
Vijay Wadettiwar, the Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly, expressed concern and urged the Election Commission not to accept “Form no. 7”, highlighting that constituencies where the MVA gained a lead in the Lok Sabha elections witnessed the removal of 2,500 to 10,000 voters from the list. The deletion of such a significant number of voters appears to be a deliberate move to influence the election results.
Ambadas Danve, a Shiv Sena (UBT) leader and Opposition leader in the Council, raised alarm about the missing names of 6,000 voters in the Nashik Central assembly seat and asserted that similar issues were faced despite bringing them to the attention of the collector.
This was also observed in Aurangabad Central and Sillod seats, where approximately 27,000 voters were added to the electoral rolls, creating disparities in the voters’ list.
NCP (SP) leader Jitendra Awhad demanded greater transparency and accountability, proposing that the EC should publish a white paper on the voters’ list. He criticised the poor print quality of the voters’ list, highlighting that discrepancies in names, addresses, and photos were inaccurately portrayed, leading to skepticism about the electoral process.
Nana Patole, continuing his plea, urged the Commission to cancel the appointment of 50,000 “yojana doots” who are employed to promote government welfare programs. He alleged that these individuals, paid Rs 50,000, are privately affiliated with the RSS and BJP, indicating a partisan approach in the execution of the election campaign.
Assembly polls in the state will be held on November 20, and votes will be counted on November 23.