Satyacha Morcha: MVA, MNS slam Election Commission over voter list irregularities

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 votersrsquo list reported the PTIThe 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 BJPThe leaders demanded that local body elections in Maharashtra be held only after these issues were rectifiedThe protest named lsquoSatyacha Morcharsquo 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 marchAddressing the crowd Shiv Sena UBT chief Uddhav Thackeray alleged that his name had been uploaded on the governmentrsquos lsquoSakshamrsquo app using a fake mobile numberldquoI suspect this was done to remove my name from the votersrsquo listrdquo he claimedTaking a swipe at the BJP Uddhav Thackeray used a reference from the Bollywood film Sholay to describe the party as an ldquoanacondardquoldquoIn the film mothers tell their children to sleep or Gabbar will come I say stay awake or the anaconda will comerdquo he said according to the PTIUddhav Thackeray accused the ruling alliance of ldquostealingrdquo his party election symbol and even his fatherrsquos name ldquoAnd now they want to steal votes toordquo he said asserting that the Opposition wanted polls to be held but only on a clean electoral rollMNS chief Raj Thackeray alleged that there were ldquolakhs of dual votersrdquo in Mumbai ldquoAbout 4500 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 firstrdquo he demandedRaj 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 ldquoCatch them teach them a lesson and hand them over to the policerdquo as per the PTIThe MNS chief cautioned his party members not to be complacent because of the MNSndashShiv Sena UBT partnership ldquoWe have come together for Marathi Hindus and for the people of Maharashtrardquo he saidNCP 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 BJPled governments at the Centre and in the state of misusing power to target opponentsCongress leader Balasaheb Thorat said the issue of ldquovote theftrdquo was first raised by Rahul Gandhi and was now gaining attention nationwide ldquoOur objections during the assembly elections were ignored The votersrsquo list must be corrected before any new polls are heldrdquo he said the news agency reportedOther prominent participants included Congress leaders Naseem Khan Satej Patil and Bhai Jagtap and NCP SP MP Supriya SuleEarlier 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 rallywit PTI inputs