Mumbai, May 20 (IANS) A delegation of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) on Wednesday met Maharashtra Chief Electoral Officer S. Chockalingam and demanded transparency in the conduct of the upcoming Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls in the state.

The opposition alliance demanded that the intensive booth-level drive be executed in a completely fair, transparent, and impartial manner to ensure that no genuine voters are disenfranchised.

The memorandum consisted of 36 points, with the common theme of conducting the Special Intensive Revision impartially so that no one loses the right to vote.

Maha Vikas Aghadi leaders included state Congress chief Harshwardhan Sapkal, Congress Legislature Party leader Vijay Wadettiwar, Shiv Sena (UBT) leaders Aaditya Thackeray and Ambadas Danve, Nationalist Congress Party (SP) state chief Shashikant Shinde, and former legislator Sunil Bhusara.

The delegation expressed concern about past instances in other states in which voters from specific communities were allegedly excluded.

They demanded that no voter’s name be deleted without serving a formal notice at least seven days in advance, allowing them a fair chance to respond.

Pointing out that Maharashtra’s voter base has grown by 3.5 crore over the last 25 years, the Maha Vikas Aghadi argued that the exercise should not be rushed.

Given that no major elections are scheduled in the state for the next two to three years, they suggested the process could safely span one-and-a-half to two years to ensure thoroughness.

The opposition requested that the complete Special Intensive Revision data be shared with political parties in machine-readable formats, such as soft copies and Optical Character Recognition, as well as hard copies.

They also insisted that the data be preserved at the Electoral Registration Officer and District Election Officer levels for at least five years.

The memorandum pressed for a minimum one-month window for citizens to raise objections and a dedicated special drive to streamline Booth Level Agent registrations.

Meanwhile, Maha Vikas Aghadi leaders comprising Aaditya Thackeray, Sachin Sawant, Shashikant Shinde, Ambadas Danve, and Varun Sardesai addressed a press conference and emphasised that rushing the Special Intensive Revision process, as seen recently in other states, creates an atmosphere of panic and distrust.

They reiterated that safeguarding the integrity of the electoral roll is vital to maintaining public faith in the democratic process.

–IANS

sj/dan