Large-scale anomalies in voters’ list, postpone Maharashtra local body elections, say Opposition parties

The Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) and other Opposition parties on Wednesday (October 15, 2025) sought the postponement of Maharashtra local body elections till the alleged ‘large-scale anomalies in the voters’ list’ were removed. The Opposition parties held two meetings with the officials of the Election Commission of India (ECI) and the State Election Commission (SEC) over a period of two days, before making this demand. This was also the first time when Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray was seen sharing stage with the MVA leaders.

The Opposition parties claimed that several constituencies in Maharashtra had duplicate voters, faulty EPIC numbers, several people using the same photo identity cards or an unreasonably large number of voters staying at the same address.

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They demanded that the voters’ list be made available in the public domain and be shared with the political parties. Jayant Patil also accused the ECI of letting another party handle its website. “Some names are there on the website. The moment any news flashes on TV about that name, the same name vanishes from the list by evening,” he said, showing papers of voters’ lists where 400 voters were registered on an address in Kamthi which had house number 0.

All the Opposition parties submitted a two-page letter to the SEC demanding that the anomalies in the voters’ list be cleared and that the updated voters’ roll be used for the local body elections. It also demanded a strict vigil on houses where more than 20 voters had registered on the same address. They sought the use of VVPAT machines or voting through ballot papers.

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Uddhav Thackeray raised the issue of the cut-off date, saying that those who turn 18 after 31 July should also be allowed to vote.

“The Election Commission conducts the election, but the political parties face them. Why aren’t the voters’ lists being shared with us? Also, if there are so many problems with the voters’ list, please tell the Supreme Court that you are not ready and that you want to postpone the elections. Don’t hold elections with faulty voters’ rolls when so many anomalies have been raised, and evidence has been submitted to you,” Raj Thackeray said during the press conference.

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Congress leader Balasaheb Thorat said that the party raised issues and filed complaints during the State Assembly elections last year but did not receive any response so far. Vijay Waddettiwar claimed that FIRs were also not registered when the Congress workers gave evidence of the malpractice during the elections. “And now, the elections are going to be held on the basis of the same voters’ list. Why is the government not allowing the revision of lists?” he asked.