India
oi-Ashish Rana
The ongoing political opposition to the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls in Maharashtra took centre stage in Mumbai on Sunday, with Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray and MNS chief Raj Thackeray leading a protest march against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
Uddhav Thackeray and Raj Thackeray led the Virat Garjana Morcha protest in Mumbai against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, demanding the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls in Maharashtra be scrapped due to alleged irregularities and bias towards the BJP.
Uddhav alleged that Gyanesh Kumar was a “weapon” of the ruling BJP, while Raj Thackeray demanded that the SIR exercise in Maharashtra be scrapped.
Uddhav Questions Purpose Of SIR
Raj Thackeray also demanded that elections in the country be held through paper ballots in the future.
Questioning the stated purpose of the electoral roll revision, Uddhav Thackeray asked how many Bangladeshis allegedly residing illegally in India had been identified if the SIR was being carried out to remove such names from voter lists.
“Gyanesh Kumar is a weapon of the BJP,” he alleged.
Opposition Parties Join Mumbai Protest
State leaders of Congress and the Sharad Pawar-led NCP (SP) also participated in the morcha, which began from the Metro Cinema and traversed the short distance to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation headquarters in south Mumbai.
Participants of the morcha, dubbed the Virat Garjana Morcha (Grand Roar March), demanded the removal/resignation of the CEC over alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls.
Tricolour Allowed At Virat Garjana Morcha
Party flags were not allowed in the march. The participants and supporters were asked to carry only the national tricolour.
The morcha comes two days after the Cockroach Janta Party held a Jail Bharo Andolan’ against the Chief Election Commissioner, at Mumbai’s Shivaji Park.
