Nearly 10.64% of Mumbai’s 1.03 crore electorate — over 11 lakh entries — have been identified as duplicates in the city’s draft electoral roll, according to new data released by the Maharashtra State Election Commission (SEC). The Commission has now extended the window for filing objections from November 27 to December 3, with the final voters’ list expected on December 10.
Alarming scale of duplicate entries
According to Mid-Day, the SEC’s scrutiny shows that 4.33 lakh voters appear more than once in the rolls published last week. Multiple entries for the same individual range from two to an astonishing 103 repetitions, taking the total number of duplicate enrolments to 11,01,505.
The Commission attributes these anomalies to printing mistakes, migration, and failure to delete names of deceased voters. Booth-level staff have been instructed to conduct door-to-door verification, collect forms, and secure undertakings to ensure each citizen appears once and only once on the list.
A senior SEC official acknowledged, as per The New Indian Express, that the civic elections — mandated by the Supreme Court to be completed by January 31, 2026 — could face minor delays. Depending on the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s (BMC) progress on correcting the rolls, polls may be held by late January or pushed to early February.
Opposition-held wards show highest duplicate counts
Four of the five wards with the highest number of duplicate entries are from areas formerly represented by Opposition corporators, particularly from Shiv Sena (UBT) and the Nationalist Congress Party (SP). Two such wards fall within the Worli Assembly constituency, represented by Aaditya Thackeray.
The top five wards with duplicate voters are:
- Ward 199 (Worli) – 8,207 duplicates
- Ward 131 (Ghatkopar) – 7,741
- Ward 203 (Parel–Lalbaug) – 7,624
- Ward 205 (Kalachowki) – 7,585
- Ward 194 (Century Mill) – 7,584
As reported by TNIE, a senior BMC official emphasised that the “11 lakh figure” refers not to individuals but repeated entries, and that a citywide clean-up drive is ongoing. The rectification process, supervised by 25 Assistant Municipal Commissioners designated as nodal officers, will run from November 27 to December 5.
Aaditya Thackeray escalates charge of manipulation, flags “millions” of repeated entries
On November 24, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray met senior SEC officials to protest the integrity of the voter roll revision. He also submitted a formal letter to the Chief Electoral Officer.
According to the Mid-Day report, Thackeray told the media that citizens were “desperately waiting” to vote but were confronted with arbitrary delays and unexplained irregularities. The draft list — initially due on November 7 and then on November 14 — was eventually released only on November 20, which he termed a “deliberate strategy” by the government to influence upcoming local body elections.
He alleged that government-held wards witnessed minimal or no changes, while Opposition strongholds saw “disproportionate and suspicious restructuring.”
Thackeray also questioned why the list’s summary data did not match its detailed entries, and criticised the roll for not being machine-readable.
In a post on X, he described the draft as “absolutely disgraceful and unpardonable”, demanding immediate remedial action from the SEC.
Our exposé on the corrupt practices of the election commission and the vote fraud in millions has led the the election commission giving us a week more to further find the vote chori.
Our exercise is not to only speak about it or only expose it, we expect corrective action on…
— Aaditya Thackeray (@AUThackeray) November 26, 2025
Key discrepancies highlighted by Aaditya Thackeray
In a detailed public note on X, Thackeray alleged:
- Over a million duplicated entries, with some voters appearing up to seven times
- 26,319 households showing more than 10 registered voters each
- Hundreds of addresses listing over 1,000 voters
- These suspicious entries, totalling more than 8,32,000, amount to “fraud, not error”
- Nearly 7 lakh voters with no house numbers or usable addresses
He warned that such patterns hinted at systematic manipulation, insisting that “one person must have only one vote.”
His demands to the SEC included:
- Extending the suggestion-objection window from 7 to 21 days
- Allowing bulk objections by political parties
- Deploying full Commission manpower to identify possible fraud
This afternoon, we called on the State Election Commission pointing out the absolutely disgraceful and unpardonable chaos in the draft electoral roll for the BMC.
We have demanded:
1) 21 days for suggestion/ objections, instead of 7 days
2) The Election Commission accept our… pic.twitter.com/u1pycrGLCB— Aaditya Thackeray (@AUThackeray) November 24, 2025
Growing anxiety over ‘elected unopposed’ trend in local elections
A parallel controversy has emerged over the sharp increase in candidates being declared elected unopposed, raising serious concerns about coercion and misuse of political influence.
One prominent example came from Angar municipal corporation, where:
- An NCP candidate’s nomination was abruptly declared invalid
- The daughter-in-law of a leader who recently switched from NCP to the BJP was declared elected unopposed
According to Times of India, BJP state president Ravindra Chavan then publicly announced that the party had already secured around 100 seats even before voting, triggering backlash from Opposition parties. They accused the BJP of pressuring rival candidates into withdrawing.
Supriya Sule flags “deeply worrying” pattern
As reported by TOI, NCP (SP) MP Supriya Sule has written to SEC Chief Dinesh Waghmare expressing grave concern about this trend. She said Maharashtra has a long tradition of robust local democracy, rooted in the legacy of Yashwantrao Chavan, which is being undermined.
Her letter states:
- Capable candidates are being discouraged from filing nominations
- This climate is undemocratic, weakens local self-government, and violates the spirit of decentralised democracy
- In areas with no alternative candidates, citizens are effectively denied choice
- The SEC must conduct serious investigations wherever allegations of pressure or intimidation arise
Congress also seeks extension, flags ward-wise discrepancies
Following similar moves by Uddhav Thackeray and Raj Thackeray, according to TOI, the Maharashtra Congress has written to the SEC demanding a 15-day extension for filing objections to the BMC draft rolls.
In their letter,
- State president Harshavardhan Sapkal,
- CLP leader Vijay Wadettiwar, and
- MLC group leader Satej Patil,
stated that in several municipal areas, draft rolls were not properly divided ward-wise, and many names were erroneously shifted to other localities.
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