Opposition Unity in Mumbai: Thackeray, Pawar Lead Massive Protest Over ‘Irregular’ Voter Lists

Mumbai, Nov 2025 : In an uncommon display of solidarity, Maharashtra’s major Opposition leaders — Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray, NCP (SP) patriarch Sharad Pawar, senior Congress leader Balasaheb Thorat, and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) president Raj Thackeray — jointly led a massive protest march in Mumbai on Saturday, alleging widespread irregularities in voter lists ahead of the upcoming civic elections.

The demonstration, named ‘Satyacha Morcha’ (March for Truth), began at Fashion Street in south Mumbai and concluded at the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) headquarters. Thousands of supporters participated, with the Mumbai Police deploying heavy security and implementing traffic diversions across key routes to manage the crowd.

Speaking at the rally, Raj Thackeray launched a sharp attack on the Election Commission of India (ECI). He accused the poll body of attempting to conduct civic elections without first cleaning up voter rolls marred by large-scale discrepancies. According to him, Maharashtra’s voter lists contain lakhs of duplicate entries, undermining the credibility of the electoral process.

“I have a list of 4,500 voters who cast their ballots in the Malabar Hill constituency despite residing in Kalyan, Dombivli, Bhiwandi, and Murbad. These individuals voted twice — and there are lakhs more like them,” Raj Thackeray claimed as he held up stacks of documents purported to show duplicate voter records.

He also alleged that numerous voters were registered at the official residence of the Pune municipal commissioner — an example he said demonstrated how deep the problem ran. “This is nothing short of an insult to the common voter who waits patiently in line to exercise his democratic right,” he said, demanding that the government and the ECI initiate a thorough clean-up before any polls are held.

Uddhav Thackeray, in a charged speech, accused the BJP and its allies of attempting to “strangle democracy.” Drawing a sharp metaphor, he said, “They have stolen my party, my symbol, and now they want to steal democracy itself.” He urged citizens to verify their names in the electoral rolls, warning that a systematic attempt was underway to delete legitimate voters and add fake ones.

Thackeray claimed that even his own details had been tampered with on the voter list. “We found fake mobile numbers and forged entries linked to my name and address. This is a planned move to remove genuine voters and manipulate the polls,” he said, alleging that the ruling coalition was “killing democracy through electoral fraud.”

Sharad Pawar and Balasaheb Thorat echoed these concerns, stressing that local body elections in Maharashtra should not be held until all discrepancies in the electoral rolls are thoroughly corrected. They argued that fair elections were impossible unless the voter lists were accurate and transparent.

As the Opposition held its march, the Maharashtra BJP organized a parallel demonstration in Girgaon — a ‘silent protest’ meant to counter the allegations. Led by party state president Ravindra Chavan, BJP workers wore black tape across their mouths, accusing the Opposition of spreading “false narratives” and attempting to undermine trust in the electoral system.

“The MVA is repeating its old strategy of misinformation, just as it did during the 2024 Lok Sabha campaign,” Chavan said, calling the ‘Satyacha Morcha’ an “attempt to divert attention from their failures.”

Saturday’s political developments marked a dramatic moment in Maharashtra’s politics — particularly the rare sight of cousins Uddhav and Raj Thackeray marching together, despite years of estrangement. Their joint presence, alongside Pawar and other senior leaders, underscored a shared message: that the integrity of elections must be protected above all political divides.

The Opposition has vowed to continue its pressure campaign until the ECI completes a full verification of voter lists. Whether this unprecedented show of unity will influence the timing or conduct of Mumbai’s civic elections remains to be seen, but the protest has undeniably intensified the political temperature in the state.