The march, which began at Metro Cinema and proceeded towards the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) headquarters in South Mumbai, brought together MNS chief Raj Thackeray and Shiv Sena (UBT) president Uddhav Thackeray, along with leaders and workers from the Congress, the Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar), Left parties and the Peasants and Workers Party.

Thousands of demonstrators took part in the protest, carrying the Tricolour instead of party flags. The rally called for an end to the SIR exercise, a return to paper ballots and the resignation of CEC Gyanesh Kumar.

Raj Thackeray questions legality of SIR

Questioning the legal basis of the SIR exercise, Raj Thackeray argued that a nationwide revision of electoral rolls could not be carried out without specific statutory backing. Referring to legal views previously expressed by former Union Home Secretary R.K. Singh, he maintained that such revisions should be undertaken only in exceptional circumstances and with proper justification.

“A Special Intensive Revision can only be conducted under exceptional circumstances, such as natural disasters, floods, earthquakes, or massive population displacement, and even then, only for specific constituencies with written justifications,” Raj Thackeray said.

“Executing a blanket nationwide SIR is illegal and has no provision in the law,” he added.

He alleged that the current revision exercise had resulted in the removal of two crore voters from electoral rolls across the country and questioned the grounds on which their names were being deleted.

“Who are these two crore citizens being removed from the rolls? Are they our voters? On what grounds are they being disenfranchised?” he asked, urging political parties to unite against the exercise.

Raj Thackeray also questioned the increase in Maharashtra’s voter numbers, asking how the state could have added between 40 lakh and 60 lakh voters in the six months following the Lok Sabha elections.

He alleged that discrepancies in voter lists and the use of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) had raised serious concerns about the credibility of election results. He called for an immediate halt to the SIR exercise in Maharashtra and demanded that all future elections be conducted using paper ballots.

“I have only two demands. First, the SIR conducted in Maharashtra must be scrapped. Second, all future elections must be conducted on ballot papers. This will ensure complete transparency, doodh ka doodh, paani ka paani,” he said.

He further urged opposition parties to take their concerns to Delhi and press for changes to the electoral process, stressing that governments must come to power through fair and legitimate elections.

EVM concerns and questions over election results

Raj Thackeray said he had been raising concerns about EVMs and voter list discrepancies since 2017-18. He recalled meeting senior opposition leaders, including Sonia Gandhi, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) chief Sharad Pawar, to discuss the issues.

He said he had previously suggested that opposition parties consider a united boycott of elections to force greater transparency in the electoral process.

Questioning the outcome of the Maharashtra Assembly elections, Raj Thackeray also pointed to what he described as an unusual silence across the state after the ruling Mahayuti coalition secured a sweeping majority.

“What kind of victory is this?” he asked, arguing that the lack of public celebrations following the results reflected widespread disillusionment.

He alleged that voter roll manipulation had taken place during the 2024 Lok Sabha and Assembly elections and called on the Election Commission to explain the changes in voter numbers.

The allegations were directed at the Election Commission and the electoral process; the claims made during the rally were not independently established in the speech.

Uddhav Thackeray targets BJP and Election Commission

Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray also criticised the BJP-led government at the Centre, accusing it of gaining control over institutions and engineering splits within political parties.

He questioned the concentration of power within the Election Commission and called for CEC Gyanesh Kumar’s removal. Uddhav Thackeray also raised concerns about the legal immunity enjoyed by the Chief Election Commissioner during and after his tenure.

The rally marks a renewed effort by opposition parties in Maharashtra to bring electoral transparency to the centre of political debate. The participation of the Thackeray cousins alongside other Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) allies also highlighted their joint opposition to the SIR exercise and the current voting system.

Raj Thackeray maintained that returning to paper ballots would help restore public confidence in elections, arguing that the priority should be ensuring a fair mandate, regardless of which party ultimately forms the government.

(With IANS inputs)