Mumbai, Dec 2 (IANS) Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray (SS-UBT) legislator Aaditya Thackeray on Tuesday launched a scathing attack on the Election Commission of India (ECI), questioning whether it is “running a circus” after “massive irregularities” were found in Mumbai’s draft voter list, released in November 20.

Speaking to reporters, Thackeray highlighted numerous “discrepancies” in the voter rolls across Mumbai’s 227 wards, stating that his party has filed 3,000 to 4,000 objections.

Thackeray pointed out that party legislator Sunil Govind Shinde’s name appears seven times in the voter list with different ages and photographs.

Similarly, former mayor Shraddha Jadhav’s name appears eight times, while the names of Congress legislator Jyoti Gaikwad and party MP Anil Desai also appear as duplicate entries.

“The Election Commission has shown 14 lakh duplicate voters that will be removed. Our legislator’s name was listed seven times with different ages and photos. Is the Election Commission making a mockery of this? Are you running a circus?” he questioned.

He claimed that 5.86 lakh people are registered as duplicate voters, with many Marathi voters’ names appearing multiple times.

He alleged that some duplicate entries are not marked with a star symbol for identification. He raised concerns about the names of deceased voters remaining on the list despite the submission of death certificates, questioning whether proxy voting is occurring in their names.

“In many cases, the names marked by EC as repeated aren’t repeated and in fact are common Marathi names, with real different people. Whereas, there are approximately 50,000 names that are repeated, but not marked by the EC as repeated. Voters who have been long dead have been present through voter lists in Vidhan Sabha polls, and some have even voted. In every ward, for every booth, we have made a list of such voters, with proof. What will the EC do with this entire list? Will they allow proxy voting? Most Shocking,” said Thackeray.

He alleged that Booth Level Officers (BLOs) deputed for voter verification are unable to read or write, and some officials cannot even read the voter list properly.

He also claimed that 33,000 new voters have been added to the list after July 1, 2025, despite regulations prohibiting additions after that date.

“We have met with the Election Commission and submitted letters. We are working on the lists ourselves, going booth to booth. We are asking the BMC, state, and central Election Commission, ‘What are you doing?’ ” said Aaditya Thackeray.

The Shiv Sena-UBT leader warned that if satisfactory answers are not provided, his party will launch a movement on this issue, adding that they have two more days to raise additional objections.

He further stated that the Election Commission must extend the days of suggestions/ objections for the draft roll of the municipal corporations in Maharashtra.

–IANS

sj/svn