Poll body deploying BLOs who ‘can’t read or write’, says Aaditya
Mumbai (PTI): Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray on Tuesday said some booth-level officers (BLOs), who are "unable to read or write", were tasked with gathering information about voters in Mumbai, and alleged multiple entries of voters in the draft list.
Addressing a press conference, the former minister said that his party had filed 3,000 to 4,000 objections in each of the 227 civic wards of Mumbai.
He said that Sena (UBT) office-bearers and frontal organisations have been scanning the draft voters' lists, looking for irregularities.
Thackeray claimed that the draft voters' lists had 14 lakh voters, with multiple entries, most of whom are "Marathi, political workers and public representatives of the Opposition parties".
He further accused the state election commission of sending BLOs who cannot read or write to gather and verify information about voters.
"Those who cannot read or write are visiting people's homes as BLOs. You (poll body) are sending people who do not even know how to write or read," he said.
Demanding the suspension of officials heading poll bodies, Thackeray said the Election Commission has turned into a circus.
He cited instances of voters with multiple entries, claiming Sena (UBT) MLC Sunil Shinde's name figured seven times in the draft list with different ages, addresses and photos, while former Mumbai mayor Shraddha Jadhav's name came up eight times in the voters' list.
The names of Congress MLA Jyoti Gaikwad and Mumbai South Central MP Anil Desai also figured multiple times in the draft list, he said.
Thackeray also alleged that every poll booth has names of deceased voters, and this is despite their families submitting their death certificates.
Polls to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, the richest civic body in the country, are slated to be held early next month.
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Women's reservation must be implemented without being made contingent on delimitation: CM
Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Wednesday said that the Women's Reservation Bill is a long-overdue reform that must be implemented immediately within the existing framework, without being made contingent on delimitation.
Terming the delimitation as the political re-engineering at the cost of southern states, Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar said that these states will stand united, speak in one voice, and defend the true spirit of federalism.
The leaders' statements came a day before the Constitutional Amendment Bill with provisions on women's reservation implementation and delimitation was tabled in the Lok Sabha.
"You are right in highlighting the larger implications of the proposed delimitation approach and the concerns it raises for southern states. We wholeheartedly support the Women's Reservation Bill - it is a long-overdue reform that must be implemented immediately within the existing framework, without being made contingent on delimitation," Siddaramaiah said in a post on 'X'.
He was replying to his Telangana counterpart A Revanth Reddy's post on 'X' with a letter, urging the former to unitedly resist moves to push a pro rata model to increase Lok Sabha seats, which would be highly detrimental and inimical to the interests of southern states.
"Any exercise that reshapes political representation must be undertaken with utmost care. The Union Government must engage all states in a transparent and consultative process, and ensure that fairness, federal balance, and consensus guide this critical decision," Siddaramaiah added.
Shivakumar said that this is not a delimitation, but political re-engineering "at the cost of southern states".
"The proposal to increase Lok Sabha seats from 543 to 850 will systematically reduce the voice of the South, while rewarding unchecked population growth elsewhere. This is nothing but punishing progress and good governance," he posted on 'X'.
Clarifying that Congress fully supports women's reservation and in fact, it was party's top leader Sonia Gandhi's vision and commitment that brought this dream to the national agenda, the Deputy CM said, "We demand that it be implemented without linking it to delimitation or seat expansion."
"I urge the Union Govt to not hide behind women's empowerment to push a deely unfair political agenda. Rushing such a massive restructuring of India's democracy during elections, without transparency or consultation, is deeply suspicious and unacceptable," he said.
Asserting that India's strength lies in balance not domination, and in fairness, not manipulation, Shivakumar said, "The Southern states will stand united, speak in one voice, and defend the true spirit of federalism."
"We will not allow the South to be politically marginalised."
