In a fiery press conference, opposition leaders from Maharashtra’s Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) declared the state’s voter lists “highly compromised and faulty,” urging the State Election Commission (SEC) and Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) to overhaul them before the impending local body elections. The accusations, leveled after consecutive meetings with SEC’s Dinesh Waghmare and CEO S Chockalingam on Wednesday, spotlight systemic flaws threatening the integrity of upcoming civic polls, expected within the next two months or early 2026.

The delegation, featuring heavyweights like Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray, NCP (SP)’s Jayant Patil, Congress’s Balasaheb Thorat, and MNS leader Raj Thackeray, presented a litany of discrepancies in the electoral rolls. Patil highlighted “incomplete and misleading addresses” on Electors Photo Identity Cards (EPIC) and voter lists shared with political parties, signaling a breach of due process. Specific cases included 400 voters in Murbad’s booth no. 8 listed with a dash instead of addresses, 450 voters in Badnera’s booth 218 prefixed with a numerical zero, and 867 voter IDs in Kamptee issued without residential details.

Patil pointed to instances of duplicate entries, citing a Sushama Gupta registered under six different EPIC numbers in Nallasopara, all deleted hours after media exposure on August 12 without documented verification. “Who ordered this? Where’s the transparency?” he demanded, alleging external manipulation of the electoral database. He claimed an outside agency appears to control the system, quietly removing exposed entries, suggesting neither the SEC nor the Election Commission of India (ECI) holds full authority.

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Further anomalies included 813 voters registered at a single address in Nashik Central and 869 at one address in Pune Cantonment, which Patil dismissed as beyond clerical error. He also criticized the SEC for withholding hourly voter turnout data during the 2024 assembly elections, releasing final figures only after two days, a departure from standard transparency protocols. Thorat echoed these concerns, noting that issues flagged before the assembly polls, such as college hostels misused as voter addresses, went unaddressed. “The SEC claims it’s not their job to remove erroneous names. How can we expect fair civic polls with such a stance?” he questioned.

The opposition demanded a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter rolls, as conducted in Bihar before its assembly elections, to eliminate bogus entries and duplications, particularly among migrants registered in multiple states. They warned that reusing the flawed rolls from the 2024 assembly polls risks perpetuating a “mess” in civic elections, including those for the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). Additionally, they pressed for mandatory Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) systems, proposing ballot papers for BMC polls if VVPATs are unavailable due to reported equipment shortages.

The leaders’ unified front follows a Supreme Court mandate to complete local body elections by January 31, 2026, after delays since 2022 attributed to ward restructuring and logistical constraints. The opposition accuses the ruling BJP-led Mahayuti of exploiting these delays to avoid accountability. In response, Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde dismissed the MVA as “confused,” while the SEC has sought ECI approval for a voter list revision, though time constraints may hinder a full SIR before the deadline.

The controversy, amplified by social media posts alleging voter fraud, has fueled public distrust, with the opposition framing it as a fight for democratic integrity. As Maharashtra braces for civic polls in key municipalities like Mumbai, Pune, and Nashik, the demand for transparent electoral rolls intensifies, setting the stage for a heated political showdown. The opposition’s push, backed by detailed evidence, challenges the election authorities to act decisively or risk further erosion of public confidence in the democratic process.

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