Rohit Pawar calls FIR over fake Aadhaar demo ‘absurd’

Pawar, who was in the city on Thursday, said the intention behind the demonstration (on October 16) was to highlight loopholes in the Aadhaar system, not to commit forgery

A day after an FIR was lodged in Mumbai against unidentified persons following NCP (SP) MLA Rohit Pawar’s demonstration of how a fake Aadhaar card could be created in the name of former US President Donald Trump and used to register bogus voters, the legislator described the police action as “laughable.”

In his earlier press conference, Pawar had alleged large-scale manipulation of voter lists after the Lok Sabha election results went against the BJP-led Mahayuti. (File Photo)

Pawar, who was in the city on Thursday, said the intention behind the demonstration (on October 16) was to highlight loopholes in the Aadhaar system, not to commit forgery.

“I was only showing how the system could be manipulated. The chief minister should have called me to seek details and ordered a proper investigation. Instead, after wasting 15 days, they filed a meaningless FIR,” said Pawar.

“The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) felt threatened because it has benefited from such irregularities,” he added.

The FIR was filed after BJP’s social media cell co-convener Dhananjay Wagaskar came across the video of Pawar’s demonstration on YouTube, where allegations were also made against a BJP office-bearer. Taking note of the content, Wagaskar lodged a complaint with the cyber police, alleging that the act incited public anger against a government institution and sought to create social discord.

Following the complaint, Mumbai cyber police registered a case under sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita related to forgery, identity theft, circulation of false information, and provisions of the Information Technology Act.

In his earlier press conference, Pawar had alleged large-scale manipulation of voter lists after the Lok Sabha election results went against the BJP-led Mahayuti. He claimed there were instances of bogus registrations, deletion of genuine voters, and duplicate entries, including cases where an Aadhaar card from one constituency was used to register a voter in another with altered details.

Citing voter data, Pawar said that between 2019 and 2024, about 32 lakh new voters were added—roughly 6.5 lakh annually. However, in the six months between the 2024 Lok Sabha and Maharashtra Assembly polls, the number shot up to 48 lakh, raising suspicions. In his Karjat-Jamkhed constituency alone, he alleged 14,292 new additions, 5,360 deletions, and over 14,000 duplicate names.