Raj Thackeray Demands End To EVM Voting And Total Scrapping Of Maharashtra Special Intensive Revision Drive
A massive political mobilization swept through the streets of Mumbai as the Thackeray cousins joined forces to stage an unprecedented public demonstration against the Election Commission of India. Tens of thousands of workers, party cadres, and ordinary citizens took part in the massive march, carrying the national tricolor instead of political party flags to demonstrate common democratic purpose. The demonstration brought together political forces that had walked different paths for years, uniting them against what they described as an organized assault on the voting rights of millions of citizens.
Speaking before a sea of supporters, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray demanded an immediate halt to voting through electronic voting machines, insisting that the country must return to paper ballots to restore trust in election outcomes. He stated that conducting elections using traditional ballot papers is the only sure way to remove all doubts surrounding voting integrity and ensure that the voice of the people is genuinely reflected. The regional leader made it clear that democratic decisions must be settled by ordinary voters casting verifiable votes, rather than by controversial machines or bureaucratic administrators.
Raj Thackeray directed fierce criticism at the ongoing Special Intensive Revision exercise across the state, demanding that the entire revision drive in Maharashtra be cancelled at once. He pointed out that legal provisions allow such intensive revision drives only during genuine emergency situations, questioning why the exercise was ordered now. The MNS chief highlighted a massive statistical shift, stating that while forty to sixty lakh names were added during past assembly polls, nearly two crore names were being removed through the current revision drive, demanding to know the true identities and whereabouts of the deleted electors.
Sharing the stage, Shiv Sena UBT chief Uddhav Thackeray launched a blistering attack against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, publicly accusing him of functioning as a political weapon for the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party. Uddhav Thackeray argued that the top poll office is being used to strip citizens of their fundamental voting rights, warning that while ruling authorities may control government institutions, the streets belong to the people. He told the ruling establishment that citizens may appear quiet today, but if pushed too far, public anger will bring down their position of power.
The former Maharashtra chief minister also took direct aim at the official justification used by authorities to promote the revision drive. Official spokespersons had earlier claimed that the revision was necessary to weed out illegal foreign residents and fraudulent registrations from the rolls. Uddhav Thackeray challenged the government to reveal exact data, demanding to know precisely how many illegal migrants the poll body had uncovered among the millions of names removed from the registers. He stated that if real foreign infiltrators existed, political workers themselves would identify and remove them, calling the official claim an excuse to quietly erase genuine domestic voters.
Uddhav Thackeray went further to question the centralization of power inside the Election Commission and the selection process that placed the current chief in office. He criticized changes made to the appointment panel for election commissioners, asserting that the chief election commissioner was appointed despite clear objections from opposition leaders. Targeting the central government, he warned that using government programs to manufacture authoritarian control would meet fierce resistance, reminding leaders that historic autocrats who ruled through arbitrary power ultimately faced disastrous downfalls.
The massive demonstration in Mumbai unfolded alongside growing street unrest across other major parts of the country. In New Delhi, student organizations, civil society leaders, and opposition figures continued to stage demonstrations near Jantar Mantar, facing heavy police barricades and widespread detentions. Organizers in Mumbai highlighted the harsh treatment handed out to peaceful youth demonstrators in the capital, demanding accountability from central security ministries over police conduct during public protests.
The joint public march marks a significant shift in regional and national politics as opposition parties unite against the management of electoral rolls. With the deadline for filing claims and objections on the draft voter list extended into October and final decisions running into November, political parties have promised to escalate their street campaign. The united stand taken by regional leaders proves that public frustration with bureaucratic voter deletions has moved beyond technical legal complaints, setting up a prolonged confrontation between regional political forces and the election authorities.