Uddhav, Raj Thackeray Mumbai protest march: Police file FIR against organisers over permission

The Mumbai Police on Sunday registered a case against the organisers of a protest march led by Shiv Sena UBT chief Uddhav Thackeray and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena MNS president Raj Thackeray alleging that the event was held without the requisite permissionThe FIR was registered at the Azad Maidan police station following the joint protest which brought Uddhav and Raj Thackeray together in Mumbai to oppose the Election Commissions Special Intensive Revision SIR of electoral rolls in Maharashtra Police said the organisers had not obtained the required permission to conduct the marchPolice cite lack of permission for protest marchAn offence has been registered at the Azad Maidan police station against the organisers for conducting todays morcha without requisite permission Deputy Commissioner of Police Manish Kalwaniya saidThe case was filed after thousands of people took part in the protest which was organised under the banner of the Virat Garjana Morcha The march began from Metro Cinema in south Mumbai and proceeded towards the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation headquarters Opposition leaders from the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party Sharadchandra Pawar also joined the demonstrationReports said the organisers had asked participants not to carry party flags and instead carry the national tricolour The decision was aimed at presenting the protest as a broader campaign against the Election Commissions functioning rather than an event led by individual political partiesProtest targets CEC Gyanesh KumarThe main demand of the protesters was the removal or resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar The opposition parties have alleged irregularities in the SIR process and questioned the manner in which electoral rolls are being revisedThe Election Commission and the BJP have rejected allegations that the electoralroll exercise is intended to favour the ruling party Reuters reported that opposition parties have alleged that changes to voter rolls could disenfranchise eligible voters while the Election Commission has defended the revision as a process aimed at removing invalid entriesUddhav Thackeray criticised Kumar during the protest accusing him of acting in the interests of the ruling BJP He described the CEC as a weapon of the BJP while attacking the Election Commissions handling of the electoralroll revisionRaj Thackeray demands cancellation of SIRRaj Thackeray who also addressed the gathering demanded that the SIR process in Maharashtra be scrapped He also called for elections to be conducted using ballot papers instead of electronic voting machinesOur demand is that the entire SIR conducted in Maharashtra should be cancelled Raj Thackeray said according to reports There should be only ballot paper votingCongress and NCP leaders join demonstrationThe protest also drew leaders from other opposition parties including the Congress and the Sharad Pawarled NCP SP Their participation gave the demonstration a broader opposition character with speakers raising concerns about electoral transparency and the functioning of the Election CommissionThe march was held amid growing opposition criticism of the SIR exercise Opposition parties have questioned changes to voter lists and alleged that the process could affect legitimate voters The Election Commission however has maintained that the revision is intended to ensure the accuracy of electoral rollsWith inputs from PTI