Daijiworld Media Network - Mumbai
Mumbai, Oct 4: Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) president Raj Thackeray on Sunday issued a stern ultimatum to the Election Commission of India (ECI), demanding the immediate scrapping of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process and the reintroduction of paper ballots for all future elections.
Addressing the 'Garjana Morcha' rally in Mumbai, Raj Thackeray alleged that the ongoing SIR exercise was illegal and unconstitutional, citing legal opinions earlier expressed by former Union Home Secretary R.K. Singh.
"A Special Intensive Revision can only be conducted under exceptional circumstances -- such as natural disasters, floods, earthquakes, or massive population displacement -- and even then, only for specific constituencies with written justifications," he said.
"Executing a blanket nationwide SIR is illegal and has no provision in the law," the MNS chief asserted.
Raj Thackeray alleged discrepancies in voter numbers, claiming that electoral rolls were artificially inflated during the Assembly elections, while the ongoing SIR exercise had resulted in the removal of two crore voters across the country.
"Who are these two crore citizens being removed from the rolls? Are they our voters? On what grounds are they being disenfranchised?" he asked, urging all political parties to unite and demand an immediate halt to the revision exercise.
He called for all ongoing SIR exercises to be annulled and demanded that Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) be abolished and physical ballot papers restored to rebuild public confidence in the electoral process.
Questioning the mandate of the ruling Mahayuti coalition, which secured an overwhelming majority in Maharashtra, Raj Thackeray asked, "What kind of victory is this?"
He said there was an "unnatural silence" across Maharashtra after the elections instead of the celebrations normally associated with a decisive electoral victory.
Raj Thackeray recalled that he had been raising concerns over alleged EVM tampering and discrepancies in voter lists since 2017-18. He said he had met senior opposition leaders, including Sonia Gandhi and Mamata Banerjee, to raise the issue and had suggested at the time that a united boycott of elections could be considered to expose the alleged irregularities.
Raising questions over changes in voter numbers, he asked how Maharashtra could have added 40 to 60 lakh voters within a period of just six months after the Lok Sabha elections.
He also alleged that nearly two crore voters had been removed from electoral rolls across the country and demanded accountability from Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, alleging systematic manipulation of voter lists during the 2024 Lok Sabha and Assembly elections.
Concluding his address, Raj Thackeray said returning to paper ballots was the only way to ensure transparent and indisputable elections.
"If these two demands are met, everything will be clear as day -- 'doodh ka doodh, paani ka paani'. After that, it doesn't matter who wins or comes to power, because the mandate will be legitimate," he said.
Raj Thackeray joined hands with Shiv Sena (UBT) president Uddhav Thackeray to lead the opposition's 'Garjana Morcha' against CEC Gyanesh Kumar and the ECI.
The protest march began at Metro Cinema and proceeded towards the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) headquarters in South Mumbai. Leaders and workers from several opposition parties, including the Congress, NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) and Left parties, participated in the march.
The 'Garjana Morcha' marks a significant escalation in the opposition's campaign against CEC Gyanesh Kumar, with protesters also demanding his resignation.