Opposition Alleges Irregularities In Maharashtra Voter Lists Ahead Of Local Body Polls
Prominent leaders alleged that the Election Commission of India’s (ECI) server is being manipulated by external actors.
Published : October 15, 2025 at 8:49 PM IST
Mumbai: Opposition leaders in Maharashtra on Wednesday raised serious concerns about alleged irregularities in the voter list ahead of the upcoming local body polls in the state.
In a joint press conference at the Yashwantrao Chavan Centre, prominent leaders, including Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) President Raj Thackeray, Congress leader Balasaheb Thorat, and Nationalist Congress Party Sharad Pawar (NCP-SP) leader Jayant Patil, alleged that the Election Commission of India’s (ECI) server is being manipulated by external actors.
‘Voter Lists Are Being Tampered With’: Jayant Patil
Patil claimed that the state’s voter list was being tampered with as an outsider handles the Maharashtra Election Commission's server. “Voters are added and removed at specific times. We have concluded that someone outside the Election Commission is handling this,” he alleged.
The NCP-SP leader stated that discrepancies in the voter list had already been raised with the Chief Election Officer (CEO), who assured the opposition that the irregularities would be addressed. “We showed endless mistakes in the voter list in Maharashtra. We have submitted evidence of incomplete addresses and cases where registered voters no longer live at the given addresses. In some cases, voters were registered multiple times,” Patil added and demanded a complete overhaul of the list to remove alleged bogus voters.
‘Political Interference in Election Process’: Balasaheb Thorat
Congress leader Balasaheb Thorat expressed similar concerns, accusing the Election Commission of “political interference”. He alleged that the passwords of the Commission’s website have been handed over to outside parties, allowing them to manipulate the lists. “The Commission is refusing to respond to these allegations, and we believe there is political interference at play,” Thorat said. “No changes have been made in the last six to seven months since the Assembly elections, and the same faulty list will be used again for the local body elections,” he added.
Raj Thackeray demands revision of voter lists.
MNS President Thackeray also questioned the EC’s transparency in managing the voter list, alleging that if the Election Commission is not showing voter lists to political parties, then the real problem lies here.
Displaying voter lists from both the 2019 and 2024 elections, he highlighted discrepancies in the format. “The list published for the 2024 elections only contains names of voters, without photos or addresses,” he pointed out.
The MNS leader called for the postponement of elections until the lists are updated. “There is no reason to rush elections when the lists are clearly flawed,” Thackeray said.
Uddhav Thackeray: ‘Dictatorship under guise of democracy’
Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Thackeray accused the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of inserting and removing names from the voter list at will. “If someone is trying to impose dictatorship in the name of democracy, we will not allow that to happen,” he added.
He also called for the Supreme Court to intervene and demanded that the elections be delayed until the voter list is thoroughly checked and corrected.
NCP: Action against bogus voters
Shashikant Shinde of NCP said the party had directed its workers to actively investigate the voter list for any fraudulent entries. “We have instructed every worker to search for bogus voters and prepare a data report, which we will submit jointly to the Election Commission,” Shinde said.
Meanwhile, Congress leader Vijay Vadettiwar named Devang Dave, a person allegedly associated with a political party, as the individual responsible for handling the Election Commission’s website. “Our society is concerned about his involvement in this,” Vadettiwar stated.
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