Thackeray says EC, Modi regime afraid of Gen Z, demands voter list cleanup
Mumbai: Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray has said that the Election Commission of India (ECI) and the BJP-led Modi regime are deliberately delaying local and civic body elections in Maharashtra out of fear of the Gen Z youth vote.
According to Kashmir Media Service, Thackeray, addressing a press conference in Mumbai, said the BJP-led Modi governmetn and ECI were “afraid of the youth who have just turned 18” and are using technical cut-off dates to deny them their right to vote. “The Election Commission has set a cut-off date of July 1. This means children who turn 18 after that date will not be able to vote in the upcoming local body elections,” he said.
Thackeray stressed that his party, along with the Maha Vikas Aghadi and the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena, was not opposing elections but demanding that they be held only after a thorough cleanup of the electoral rolls to remove duplicate and bogus voters. “We have not questioned any voter’s religion. Our concern is with voter fraud and the manipulation of democracy,” he said.
He urged citizens to visit Shiv Sena (UBT) shakhas to verify their voter details, including name, address, age, and gender. “All political parties except the ruling one are united against this massive voter fraud. Let us find out how many thousands of young boys and girls are being deprived of their democratic right,” Thackeray said.
He also targeted BJP minister Ashish Shelar, sarcastically congratulating him for “unknowingly calling Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis Maharashtra’s Pappu” by acknowledging irregularities in the voter list. “This shows internal discord within the BJP,” Thackeray alleged.
Raising concerns over the ECI’s technical systems, Thackeray claimed that the Saksham app and servers may have been misused to exclude legitimate voters. “The Election Commission has become a ghost. People must check if someone else is registered at their address,” he said, adding that the opposition alliance would approach the courts to seek judicial intervention for rectifying the voter rolls before any polls are conducted.
