Allegations Surface Over Bogus Voter Inclusion Ahead of Maharashtra Assembly Elections by BJP

The Shiv Sena UBT, part of the opposition alliance in Maharashtra, has accused the BJP of attempting to manipulate voter lists in 150 assembly constituencies. The allegations were made through an editorial in Saamana, the party's mouthpiece led by Uddhav Thackeray. The editorial claims that the BJP is resorting to these tactics due to fears of losing the upcoming state elections scheduled for November 20, with results on November 23.

Allegations of Voter List Manipulation

The editorial alleges that the BJP has identified around 10,000 voters for deletion and is replacing them with fake names. This accusation comes after an attempt to insert 6,853 bogus names into the voters' list in Rajura assembly segment was thwarted. The party is reportedly using Aadhaar numbers from residents of Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh to include them in Maharashtra's voter list.

Response from Election Commission

In response to these allegations, the State Chief Electoral Office clarified that there are now 9,65,05,958 voters in Maharashtra following a revision. This revision added 36,31,279 voters since October 20. The office stated that all procedures were followed correctly and allowed a 14-day period for objections after releasing the revised list.

Concerns Over Electoral Fairness

The Shiv Sena UBT claims that the BJP lacks the courage for a fair contest and is conspiring to win through unethical means. They allege that the Election Commission is ignoring these issues and only following BJP leaders' orders. The editorial also questions if different rules apply to different states, citing a recent directive by the EC to remove Jharkhand's Acting DGP Anurag Gupta due to past complaints.

Demands for Police Official's Removal

The MVA constituents, including Congress and Shiv Sena UBT, have called for the removal of Maharashtra's Director General of Police Rashmi Shukla before the polls. They accuse her of illegal phone tapping of opposition leaders. However, their request was denied by the EC, which claimed it lacked authority for such actions.

Congress MLA Subhash Dhote won the Rajura seat in 2019. Allegations suggest BJP has trained individuals to manipulate electoral rolls in specific segments. Despite these claims, the EC maintains its stance on following established procedures without bias or influence from political parties.

As election day approaches, these allegations highlight concerns about electoral integrity in Maharashtra. The accusations against BJP and responses from electoral authorities will likely continue to be scrutinised as voting nears.