Raj, Uddhav Thackeray lead Mumbai rally, demand scrapping of SIR

Mumbai: Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray and Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Uddhav Thackeray on Sunday jointly led the ‘Garjana Morcha’ in Mumbai, mounting a strong challenge to Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and the Election Commission of India (ECI) over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.

The march began at Metro Cinema and concluded near the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) headquarters, drawing thousands of protesters. Major Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) constituents, including the NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) and Congress, joined the demonstration, along with the Communist parties and the Peasants and Workers Party.

Participants carried the Tricolour instead of party flags and demanded that the SIR exercise be withdrawn, accountability be fixed over alleged voter-roll manipulation and Gyanesh Kumar resign as CEC.

Addressing the gathering, Raj Thackeray questioned the legitimacy of recent election results, saying the lack of public celebrations after the Maharashtra Assembly polls indicated widespread disillusionment and shock. He also questioned how the state’s electorate could increase by 40-60 lakh within six months of the Lok Sabha elections, calling the rise a deliberate attempt to compromise electoral integrity.

Raj recalled raising concerns about EVMs and voter-list discrepancies with leaders including Sonia Gandhi, Mamata Banerjee and Sharad Pawar as early as 2017-18. He said a united boycott of elections remained the only way to compel greater transparency.

He alleged that SIR was being used to disenfranchise genuine voters while facilitating bogus entries and demanded that the Maharashtra exercise be scrapped and future elections be conducted using paper ballots.

“SIR in the country is illegal. I have only two demands. First, the SIR conducted in Maharashtra must be scrapped. Second, all future elections must be conducted on ballot papers,” Raj said.

Uddhav Thackeray accused the BJP-led Centre of controlling institutions and engineering splits in political parties. He also criticised Gyanesh Kumar over the alleged centralisation of authority in the ECI, demanded his removal and questioned the protections available to the CEC during and after tenure.

The joint rally marked a rare show of unity between the Thackeray cousins and their allies, placing electoral integrity at the centre of the political debate in Maharashtra.

With IANS inputs