BJP holds silent protest in Mumbai against MVA and MNS' 'Satyacha Morcha'

The Maharashtra BJP staged a lsquosilent protestrsquo in Mumbai on Saturday countering the Maha Vikas Aghadirsquos MVA lsquoSatyacha Morcharsquo over alleged irregularities in the votersrsquo lists reported the PTIBJP accused the Opposition of attempting to ldquospread a fake narrativerdquo ahead of the upcoming Maharashtra civic electionsBJP leaders and workers wearing black tape across their mouths held the demonstration in the Girgaon area of South MumbaiSpeaking to reporters Maharashtra BJP president Ravindra Chavan said the protest sought to highlight the MVArsquos alleged attempts to mislead the public before electionsldquoMVA leaders have consistently tried to misinform people ahead of every election Similar tactics were employed before the 2024 Lok Sabha polls when false claims about amendments to the Constitution were deliberately circulatedrdquo Chavan said according to the PTIHe further alleged that certain Opposition figures along with foreignbased individuals and NGOs were attempting to destabilise society and the government through misinformationMeanwhile the MVA which comprises the Congress Shiv Sena UBT and NCP SP along with the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena had organised a protest march alleging irregularities in the votersrsquo list that according to them benefitted the ruling BJPThe Opposition accused the Election Commission of India ECI of ignoring widespread discrepancies such as multiple entries wrongful deletions and unauthorised additions which they claimed were benefiting the ruling BJPThe leaders demanded that local body elections in Maharashtra be held only after these issues were rectifiedThe protest named lsquoSatyacha Morcharsquo March for Truth began from Fashion Street in south Mumbai and concluded at the BMC headquarters about a kilometre away Prominent leaders including Uddhav Thackeray Sharad Pawar Raj Thackeray and Balasaheb Thorat participated in the marchAddressing the crowd Shiv Sena UBT chief Uddhav Thackeray alleged that his name had been uploaded on the governmentrsquos lsquoSakshamrsquo app using a fake mobile numberldquoI suspect this was done to remove my name from the votersrsquo listrdquo he claimedTaking a swipe at the BJP Uddhav Thackeray used a reference from the Bollywood film Sholay to describe the party as an ldquoanacondardquoldquoIn the film mothers tell their children to sleep or Gabbar will come I say stay awake or the anaconda will comerdquo he said according to the PTIUddhav Thackeray accused the ruling alliance of ldquostealingrdquo his party election symbol and even his fatherrsquos name ldquoAnd now they want to steal votes toordquo he said asserting that the Opposition wanted polls to be held but only on a clean electoral rollMNS chief Raj Thackeray alleged that there were ldquolakhs of dual votersrdquo in Mumbai ldquoAbout 4500 voters have voted in both Kalyan Rural and Malabar Hill constituencies What is the need to hold elections with such a bogus voter list Clean it up firstrdquo he demandedwit PTI inputs