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Mumbai, October 19 (IANS) Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) founder and president Raj Thackeray on Sunday made serious allegations against the Election Commission, saying that around 96 lakh fake voters have been included in the voter list of Maharashtra.
During the rally he also reiterated his dislike towards Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
His remarks were targeted at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its alliance partners, including the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and the Ajit Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).
Raj Thackeray called on the Election Commission to purge the voter lists and delay the upcoming local body elections in the state until the reform is approved by all political parties involved.
Addressing MNS booth-level workers in Mumbai’s Goregaon, he described the manipulated elections as the gravest insult to the voters.
The MNS chief said that holding elections with tampered voter lists predetermines the outcome regardless of public participation, comparing it to a fixed political contest.
He asked why the ruling parties were intervening when the matter was directed at the Election Commission, suggesting that it caused panic because they were aware of the underlying manipulation.
Raj Thackeray, who argued that efforts are underway to marginalize regional political organisations, revealed that he has received information about 96 lakh fake entries being added to the voter list ahead of the upcoming local body elections, a strategy allegedly adopted even ahead of the 2024 assembly elections.
He said between eight to 10 lakh fake voters have been included in Mumbai, while the comparable number in Thane, Pune and Nashik is between 8 to 8.5 lakh.
He said the electoral calculations were fundamentally skewed, rejecting criticism that some parties had failed to secure seats, as this was widely understood to be how those victories were achieved.
Reflecting on the recent assembly elections, Raj Thackeray said the election of 232 MLAs of the Mahayuti alliance has left Maharashtra in a state of disbelief, leaving both the voters and the winners looking surprised.
He said the methods adopted in national elections are now transparent for all.
At the public rally, Raj Thackeray showed an archival video of PM Modi from his time as an opposition party, in which the latter had alleged bias on the part of the Election Commission.
He said he had expressed similar complaints when the BJP was not in power, thereby condemning the current leadership of the party.
He stressed that discrepancies in voter lists were a long-standing issue, which he highlighted in relation to electronic voting machines and voter lists as early as 2016–17.
These allegations have come to light as preparations for local elections are being intensified, which has increased apprehensions about the fairness of the electoral process in Maharashtra.
The Election Commission has not yet issued any statement in response to Raj Thackeray’s claims.
–IANS
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