Bitten but not shy.
Aaditya Thackeray, the Shiv Sena (UBT) lawmaker and son of former Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray, has warned the warring Congress and AAP to keep a strict vigil, his calling coming on Tuesday, a day before the Delhi election.
“Urging AAP, Congress and all the independent to keep a close watch tomorrow on the Entirely Compromised (EC) aka Election Commission during voting. Please keep a vigil on voter fraud/bogus voters that the EC allows their political bosses to carry out,” Aaditya wrote on his X (formerly known as Twitter) handle.
“If need be, keep video cameras for the last hour spike that the ECI shows, to benefit their political bosses, to record the real genuine numbers,” declared the young MLA.
His words add to the national Opposition’s tirade against the poll panel.
In the Maharashtra Assembly polls, the Congress-led MVA coalition – which included the Shiv Sena (UBT) and the NCP (Sharad Pawar) – had received a drubbing in the hands of the BJP-led Mahayuti.
The echoes of that battle were heard in the Lok Sabha on Monday, when Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi raised the Maharashtra election issue in his reply to the debate on the President’s address.
Rahul had said a huge number of people – equalling the population of Himachal Pradesh – was added to the electoral rolls of Maharashtra between the Lok Sabha polls held in the summer of 2024 and the Assembly elections held in November last year.
“Almost 70 lakh new voters suddenly arrived. In Maharashtra, more voters were added in five months than in five years. In a building in Shirdi, 7,000 voters were added,” Rahul had said. “Interestingly, the new voters were added mostly in the constituencies where the BJP sees a swing.”
Rahul had demanded that the Election Commission has to show the electoral rolls for both the polls to the MVA constituents.
In the Lok Sabha elections, the Opposition had won 30 of the 48 seats in Maharashtra with the Congress winning the maximum (13 seats).
In the Assembly polls held in November, the BJP won 132 seats while the Congress managed just 16. The MVA partners have alleged that voters were added to the electoral rolls and there was a spike in the voter turnout from the day of polling to counting day.
For the Delhi polls, the AAP and the Congress have also demanded free and fair polling.
“Only a free and fair election is one that respects the citizens registered as voters- and then whatever they choose is the mandate,” Aaditya wrote in his post.