Mumbai civic polls: Cong's Gaikwad points to 11 lakh duplicate entries in draft voters list
Mumbai (PTI): The Mumbai Congress on Friday alleged irregularities in the draft voters list released for the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections, claiming nearly 11 lakh duplicate names have been included.
Mumbai Congress president Varsha Gaikwad led a party delegation to the State Election Commissioner (SEC) and sought immediate clarification on the anomalies.
Gaikwad told reporters after the meeting that even district collectors and civic deputy commissioners were unable to explain the presence of duplicate names or the procedure to address them.
"Officials say affidavits may be required from duplicate voters. This will only create more confusion and could reduce voter turnout. Citizens are being subjected to unnecessary harassment. The draft list has been released without proper coordination between the SEC and the BMC administration," she said.
"There has been no ward restructuring for nine years. Since October 2024, no voter list has been published. Now, between 7,000 and 9,000 names have been shifted from one ward to another in areas such as Dharavi, Andheri and Kandivali. Neither the SEC nor the civic body has clarified their roles," she claimed.
The SEC must publish the list of duplicate voters and specify where each duplicate entry has been recorded, Gaikwad said.
The commission has issued certain directions to the BMC, which must be implemented without delay, the Congress MP added.
The meeting held this afternoon was attended by SEC officials, the BMC commissioner, additional and deputy commissioners, and Mumbai Congress representatives.
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How can TN get funds if state always confronts Centre, asks AIADMK chief Palaniswami
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Thanjavur (PTI): AIADMK chief Edappadi K Palaniswami lashed out at the DMK government over fund flow to the state and remarked how it could be possible for the state to get funds when it intentionally confronted the central government.
Addressing a joint poll campaign with AMMK general secretary T T V Dhinakaran, a constituent of the AIADMK-led NDA in Tamil Nadu, Palaniswami on Saturday said political parties could have differences or criticise each other during elections but after the polls, the elected government should serve the people who voted them to power.
"How can TN get funds if the state government intentionally criticises the BJP? The DMK could not get funds when it shared power with the Congress at the Centre. Now it criticises the BJP, after failing to maintain harmonious ties with the Centre," the former chief minister said.
The DMK government could have obtained the funds required for the people had it maintained a cordial relationship with the Centre, he said.
But during the last five years of its rule, it had only denied the people the benefits they deserved, the AIADMK general secretary alleged.
"During the then Congress-led UPA regime, a DMK minister involved in the 2 G spectrum scam was jailed and another person who is now criticising me has also been in Tihar jail. She has no qualification to criticise me," he said and reminded that the 2 G spectrum case was still pending.
"The DMK is synonymous with scams. DMK is corruption and corruption is DMK, both are inseparable," Palaniswami alleged.
He flayed the DMK's alleged double standards on protecting the rights and interests of Tamil Nadu as it took up a joint poll campaign with Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar, who had stated that Karnataka would go ahead with the balancing reservoir project at Mekedatu.
Tamil Nadu has been opposing the project as it would affect the agriculture prospects in the state.
Dhinakaran, who addressed from atop the campaign vehicle, flanked by Palaniswami, said like "brothers", the two were garnering votes for the NDA candidates' victory.
He appealed to the people to oust the "evil DMK".
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