MVA Alleges Opposition Voters' Name Being Deleted From Ahead Of Assembly Elections (Photo on X @NANA_PATOLE)

As Maharashtra is scheduled to elect its 288 assembly members on November 20, the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) on Friday flagged a serious allegation against the ruling front, accusing the government of misusing its machinery to delete names of the genuine voters from the voters’ list. The opposition alleged that around 2,500 to 10,000 names were deleted in each constituency where the MVA alliance gained an edge in the recent general elections.

Notably, the opposition alliance together accumulated the majority of the total 48 parliamentary seats, and the Congress had emerged as the biggest party, bagging 13 seats while the BJP received nine. Shive Sena UBT got nine, while the Shinde faction secured seven. The Sharad Pawar’s NCP had secured eight seats while the Aji Pawar’s faction got only one, leaving the ruling alliance in dismay. The MVA consists of Congress, Shiv Sena UBT, and Sharad Pawar’s NCP, while the ruling Mahayuti coalition includes the BJP, Shiv Sena Shinde faction, and NCT Ajit Pawar group.

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Leveling the voters’ list manipulation allegations against the government, Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole said the saffron party was playing a loser game, realizing that it is losing. “And that’s why such tactics are being used. We warn the government that the people of Maharashtra will not spare them,” he said, noting adding that Form Number 7 should not be accepted online as names of opposition voters were being deleted.

The Congress leader stated that the BJP is making changes to the voters’ list and removing names of voters from the electoral rolls, despite the Election Commission’s (EC) assurance of free and fail elections. He added that Form Number 7 was used to get names deleted from the existing electoral roll by raising objections, alleging that the chief minister, Eknath Shinde, and the deputy chief minister were involved in the conspiracy. “The MVA delegation will meet the chief electoral officer of Maharashtra later in the day, demanding that the process of deletion of names through online applications be discontinued,” he continued.

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The Congress leader further said that the chief election commissioner had come to Mumbai, saying the poll percentage should be increased, adding that what is happening in the state is, however, shocking. The Sharad Pawar NCP leader and MLA Jitendra Awhad also raised the issue, asking why the EC has not yet removed Rashmi Shukla from the post of the director general of police (DGP), noting that the EC removed the DGP in West Bengal before the elections and it is not acting to remove a DGP, an accused of phone tapping.

Speaking on the issue, Leader of Opposition Vijay Wadettiwar appealed to the people of Maharashtra to check their names in the final voters’ list to be published on October 29.