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.

Related:

The Deadly Deadline: “I Can’t Do This Anymore”—India’s electoral revision turns into a graveyard for BLOs/teachers

SIR exercise leaves trail of suicide across states as BLOs buckle under pressure and citizens panic over citizenship

Haunted by NRC fears, 57-year-old West Bengal man dies by suicide; Mamata blames BJP for turning democracy into a “theatre of fear”

Pregnant woman deported despite parents on 2002 SIR rolls, another homemaker commits suicide

The post Massive duplicate entries in Mumbai voter rolls trigger political uproar; opposition flags “fraudulent patterns” and pressures SEC for action appeared first on SabrangIndia.

आमच्या मनात जी शंका ईव्हीएमबद्दल आहे निवडणूक आयोगाबद्दल आहे, ती व्यक्त करीत आहोत आणि आज निषेध म्हणून आम्ही शपथ घेत नाही आहोत.

– आदित्य ठाकरे, आमदार@AUThackeray pic.twitter.com/s6ktGtRPUF

— ShivSena – शिवसेना Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray (@ShivSenaUBT_) December 7, 2024

Maharashtra’s opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) on Saturday boycotted the assembly’s oath-taking ceremony, alleging EVM misuse during the recent elections. Aaditya Thackeray questioned the public’s lack of celebratory response to the results, expressing doubts about the mandate’s authenticity. Deputy CM Ajit Pawar advised the opposition to address their concerns to the Election Commission or the court. CM Fadnavis, Shinde, and Pawar took their oaths, preceded by tributes to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj.

However, leaders of the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) have boycotted the oath-taking ceremony on the first day of the Maharashtra assembly special session. Talking about the opposition’s decision to skip the event, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray expressed doubts about the misuse of EVMs during the Maharashtra assembly election. 

Talking to reporters, Thackeray said that his party has “decided that our winning MLAs will not take oath” on the first day of the Maharashtra assembly session to protest the misuse of EVMs during the election.

“If this was the mandate of the people, people would have been happy and celebrated it, but people did not celebrate this victory anywhere. We have doubts about EVM,” he added.
Thackeray further said that his party has boycotted the oath-taking ceremony as “democracy is being murdered by the use of EVMs.” “This (the results of the Maharashtra Assembly elections) is not the mandate of the public it is the mandate of EVM and the Election Commission of India,” he added.

Meanwhile, Maharashtra deputy CM and NCP chief Ajit Pawar responded to opposition’s decision – not to take oath today, saying, “There is no point in making such allegations here. They (opposition) should go to the Election Commission and if they do not get justice there, they should approach the court.”

Unfortunately the legendary details in courts over election petitions and similar grievances have ensured faith in the entire redressal system has been eroded.  Soon after the commencement of the Lower House of the state legislature, which began at 11 am, chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and deputy chief ministers Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar took oath as members of Maharashtra legislative assembly.

Before the oath taking, , Fadnavis along with Shinde and Pawar paid tribute to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, at the Vidhan Bhavan complex in Mumbai on the first day of the special assembly session. Aaditya Thackeray and several Shiv Sena UBT party workers also marked their presence during the event.

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