‘Efforts on to delete 5-10k voters in seats that backed MVA in LS poll’

MVA leaders also submitted a complaint to the chief election officer S Chockalingam, saying Mahayuti leaders were misusing form seven, which is used for deleting names from the voter’s list

Mumbai: The Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) on Friday alleged that the ruling alliance and the BJP, in particular, have conspired to delete around 5,000-10,000 names from the voters’ list in constituencies which voted in favour of the MVA during the Lok Sabha polls earlier this year. MVA leaders also submitted a complaint to the chief election officer S Chockalingam, saying Mahayuti leaders were misusing form seven, which is used for deleting names from the voter’s list – either of the self or others, and urged him to take stringent action against errant party workers and officials irrespective of their affiliation.

‘Efforts on to delete 5-10k voters in seats that backed MVA in LS poll’

“We have received complaints from our supporters that the ruling alliance is using form seven to delete the names of MVA supporters from the voter’s list,” state Congress president Nana Patole said while addressing a press conference with other MVA leaders. He cited the example of the Chikhali assembly constituency in Buldhana, which is represented by the BJP, saying around 3,000 forms were submitted to delete the names of MVA supporters from the voters’ list.

“Chief minister Eknath Shinde and deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis are particularly involved in this activity,” alleged Patole. He shared a video of Kiran Gadekar, the sarpanch of Telana village in Chikhali, who said the names of MVA supporters were being deleted from the voters’ list by using form seven. “I challenge the BJP to face a free-and-fair election without such conspiracies,” he said.

The state Congress president questioned the move to rope in 50,000 ‘Yojana Doots’ to publicise government schemes, saying most of them were associated with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. He also alleged that the police was helping the ruling parties.

Leader of opposition in the legislative assembly Vijay Wadettiwar, who also addressed the press conference, said the BJP-led ruling alliance had conspired to delete around 5,000-10,000 names from the voters’ list in constituencies which voted in favour of MVA during the Lok Sabha elections. He showed the voter identity card of NCP (SP) worker Santosh Pawar and pointed out that though his name and other details were correct, the photo was of someone else. “Polling officials can use this to deny him the right to vote,” he alleged.

Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Anil Desai too raised the issue of misuse of form seven and said the election commission must ensure fairness in voting from home by senior citizens and disabled persons.

“Mumbai has around 4,500-6,000 senior citizens in each assembly constituency who vote from home. Voting for them must be conducted in a fair and transparent manner and not under pressure from anyone,” said Desai.

Following the press conference, a delegation of MVA leaders met chief election officer S Chockalingam and urged him to not accept applications for deletion of names from the voters’ list using form seven. They demanded that the commission take stringent action against officials and political cadres involved in misusing form seven irrespective of their political affiliations.