'Fight electoral roll scam': Uddhav Thackeray to workers on BMC election

Mumbai, Oct 27 (IANS) Shiv Sena UBT chief Uddhav Thackeray on Monday accused the BJP of engineering electoral fraud by inflating voter lists with fake entries, saying that voters elect the government in a democracy, the government chooses its voters and decides who should vote and who should not.

In his speech at the Nirdhar rally in the run-up to the upcoming elections to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, he asked party workers, “Stay alert, fight the scams in electoral rolls, check bogus voting, and remember—victory (in BMC elections)is ours if we remain united like Balasaheb Thackeray taught us.

He urged party workers to scrutinise the electoral rolls booth-by-booth. He warned, “This is not just a scam; it's a theft of Maharashtra's voice. We will expose every fake name and ensure no bogus vote steals our BMC."

Thackeray asked the party ‘shakha’ and ‘upa shakha pramukhs’ to check the voters’ list properly, whether those people live in each house or not. Start this from today.

“Check how many names are genuine and how many are bogus. See that. See whether there are voters with their faces or not in the electoral roll,” he said.

“On the election day, the voters’ list should be in the hands of the polling agent with a photo. If a bogus voter is found, bar him from casting his or her vote. If the Election Commission is not listening, do not let the bogus voter vote. BJP people are thieves,” he said.

He provided "tips" for vigilance, including cross-checking voter IDs and reporting discrepancies to the Election Commission immediately.

Thackeray labelled the BJP a "bogus gang of self-proclaimed patriots" who prioritise power over people.

"They talk of Hindutva, but their Hindutva is only for their chairs. The Hindus are not in danger - the BJP's chairs are in danger. The fools will not understand this," he declared.

He positioned Shiv Sena UBT as the true guardian of Marathi pride, contrasting it with the BJP's "imposition" tactics, including the earlier Hindi language policy row.

Without directly naming Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah, Thackeray, in a scathing attack, claimed that two businessmen have their eyes on Mumbai and claimed the party would foil their attempt to grab Mumbai.

"Today, whatever Aditya Thackeray has presented here regarding the irregularities in the voter lists, we have to go deeper into it. This work has to be done all over Maharashtra, but it has to start from Mumbai. Because you know who has their eyes on Mumbai. Two businessmen in particular have their eyes on Mumbai. I know the names in your mind, but I am not taking them,” he said.

"Today, someone came to Mumbai and went. Coincidentally, today I read two news stories in Saamana. On the first page was the inauguration of the BJP office, and on the second page was a news story, in which an anaconda will soon come to Jijamata Park. Now that we have brought penguins, the number of tourists has increased there, and I am proud of it. But let's leave aside some people of the height of penguins who criticise us. But an anaconda is a snake that swallows everything, and it came here today and performed the Bhoomi Pujan. It wants to swallow Mumbai. Do you want to swallow Mumbai? Let's see how it will be swallowed,” he remarked.

--IANS

sj/dan