Mumbai, Oct 4: Political dynamics in Mumbai saw the Thackeray cousins join hands on Sunday to head a high-profile protest against the Election Commission of India, raising sharp objections to the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls. Former Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray targeted Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, alleging that the poll panel head was acting as an operational tool for the ruling party. Concurrently, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray urged authorities to scrap the statewide SIR procedure immediately and pressed for the reinstatement of physical ballot papers for future polling cycles.
The march gathered broad participation across regional opposition parties, drawing senior leadership from the Congress and the Sharad Pawar-led NCP faction, including Balasaheb Thorat, Vijay Wadettiwar, Jayant Patil, and Anil Deshmukh. Speakers at the rally collectively questioned the legitimacy and outcome of the voter list updates. Uddhav Thackeray specifically scrutinized claims surrounding the exercise, demanding that authorities reveal how many undocumented migrants were officially detected during the screening process. The demonstration underscored growing coordination among key political parties against current electoral administration frameworks in Maharashtra.
