New Delhi, Oct 30 (IANS) In a significant escalation over the voter-theft, bogus and duplicate voters charges levelled against the Election Commission, opposition parties, including Raj Thackeray (MNS), Uddhav Thackeray (Shiv Sena UBT), Harshwardhan Sapkal (Congress), and Jitendra Awhad (NCP Sharad Pawar faction) on Thursday announced a major protest on November 1 over voter list irregularities.

Notably, amid charges of vote theft and bogus and duplicate names in the electoral rolls, the Maharashtra State Election Commission (SEC), on Wednesday, had directed all concerned authorities to check possible duplicate names in the voter lists, taking appropriate precautions and necessary action to maintain transparency and accuracy in the upcoming local and civic body elections to be held in the state.

The SEC also reiterated that there is no provision to use the Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) in these elections.

The statement comes days after opposition parties alleged that the poll body had failed to address the menace of duplicate names in the voters’ list, despite receiving complaints during the 2024 state Assembly elections.

The opposition parties have organised a protest in Mumbai in this regard, demanding that elections to the local and civic bodies be held only after rectifying the errors in the electoral rolls.

Similarly, earlier this week, Shiv Sena UBT chief Uddhav Thackeray on Monday announced that after the change in the government at the Centre, a case will be filed against the Election Commissioner and the poll panel will be taken to court.

In his hard-hitting speech at the party’s Nirdhar meeting in the run-up to the elections to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), Thackeray strongly criticised the Election Commission regarding the irregularities in the voter lists in the state and across the country and the issue of bogus voters.

“Everyone is equal before the law. If we commit a crime and are caught in the crossfire of the law, then the Election Commissioner should also be punished. There is still time for the next Lok Sabha. Once our government comes, we will file a case against the Election Commissioner and bring him before the court,” he warned.

–IANS

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