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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Former Assam Cong chief Bhupen Borah joins BJP
Guwahati (PTI): Former Assam Congress chief Bhupen Kumar Borah on Sunday joined the ruling BJP in the presence of its state unit president Dilip Saikia here.
Borah became a BJP member during a function held at the Assam BJP headquarters 'Vajpayee Bhawan'.
Along with him, former Congress worker Sanju Bora, too, joined the saffron party.
Borah had resigned on February 16, with the Congress high command not accepting it and senior leaders rushing to his residence, while Rahul Gandhi also spoke to him.
He had asked for time to reconsider his decision, but the next day, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma went to his residence and announced that he would join the BJP on February 22.
The 126-member Assam assembly is expected to go to polls in March-April.
#WATCH | Guwahati, Assam | Former Assam Congress chief Bhupen Borah joins the BJP in the presence of State BJP President Dilip Saikia, BJP MP Baijayant Panda. pic.twitter.com/VIJcIa2xJ8
— ANI (@ANI) February 22, 2026
