Mumbai, Dec 15 (IANS) The Shiv Sena-UBT in a letter to the Maharashtra State Election Commission (SEC) has protested against the announcement of elections to the 29 municipal corporations, including the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), terming it “hasty”.

It claimed the poll schedule has been announced even before the publication of the final voter list.

Shiv Sena-UBT has also protested against the poor management and lack of transparency in the functioning of the SEC.

The Shiv Sena-UBT said, “State Election Commission had promised to publish the final electoral list for the municipal elections. The BMC had also made a similar claim by placing advertisements in newspapers, however, the final voter list is neither available on the SEC’s website nor a printed copy being made available at the BMC headquarters. On the one hand, while the voter list process has not been completed, on the other hand, the SEC hastily held a press conference and announced the elections. This is not only administrative irresponsibility but also a violation of the rights of voters and a mockery of the democratic process.”

“Why is there such a rush to announce the elections when the administrative preparations are not complete? Declaring elections with such inadequate and flawed preparations is legally and morally wrong. This raises questions about the credibility of the election process,” it added.

“However, we strongly demand through this letter that elections should not have been announced until the final voter lists of all municipal corporations, including the BMC, are made public and the errors therein are resolved,” the Shiv Sena-UBT said.

The Shiv Sena-UBT added that the SEC should prove its impartiality in this regard and implement the previously announced schedule.

Meanwhile, Mumbai District Guardian Minister and BJP In-charge for BMC elections, Ashish Shelar, targeted the Shiv Sena-UBT and asked it to give Mumbaikars a clear account of the Rs 1.25 lakh crore spent over the last five terms of the BMC and also clarify how much truly benefitted the people and how much found its way into the pockets.

–IANS

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