Sanjay Gaikwad urges EC to postpone civic polls to fix errors in voter list

Amid the Oppositionrsquos demand for corrections in the ldquofaultyrdquo electoral rolls ruling MLA Sanjay Gaikwad from the ruling Shiv Sena on Wednesday urged the Election Commission to postpone the upcoming Maharashtra local body polls by at least 10 days to remove ldquoduplicaterdquo voter names from the lists news agency PTI reportedGaikwad warned that bogus voting could lead to ldquodishonest candidatesrdquo winning the electionsElections to 246 municipal councils and 42 nagar panchayats across Maharashtra are scheduled for December 2 with counting on the next day State Election Commissioner Dinesh Waghmare announced on Tuesday However the poll schedule for 29 municipal corporations 32 zilla parishads and 336 panchayat samitis is yet to be declaredGaikwad a legislator from Buldhana representing the Shiv Sena faction led by Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde alleged that the Election Commission of India failed to delete duplicate names from the votersrsquo listldquoIf elections are postponed by just 10 days it will be possible to correct these errorsrdquo he said claiming that thousands of duplicate names exist in Buldhana district aloneldquoIn Buldhana city about 8000 duplicate names were found after six months of scrutinyrdquo he added questioning the poll bodyrsquos ability to finalise the list within four to five days ldquoThe EC should mark such entries with a lsquodeletedrsquo stamp to ensure transparency in the electoral processrdquo he suggestedThis is not Gaikwadrsquos first appeal last month he had also demanded that the EC remove the names of dual and deceased voters from the rolls PTI reportedMeanwhile the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi MVA comprising Shiv Sena Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray Nationalist Congress Party Sharadchandra Pawar and Congress has accused the poll body of ignoring irregularities such as multiple entries wrongful deletions and fake additions in the electoral rollsOn November 1 the MVA along with the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena MNS held a protest march lsquoSatyacha Morcha March for Truth alleging serious flaws in the votersrsquo list The opposition has demanded that the local body elections be conducted only after all discrepancies are rectifiedMaharashtra local body polls 2025 Congress leader Nitin Raut urges EC action against Ashish ShelarCongress leader Nitin Raut on Tuesday urged the Maharashtra Election Commission EC to take strict action against Bharatiya Janata Party BJP Minister Ashish Shelar alleging that his recent comments on ldquoappeasement politicsrdquo violate election laws and the Model Code of Conduct news agency PTI reportedShelar on Monday had accused Shiv Sena UBT chief Uddhav Thackeray and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena MNS President Raj Thackeray of practising appeasement politics by pointing out only duplicate Hindu voter names while allegedly ignoring similar irregularities in the Muslim voter listAccording to PTI Raut who represents the Nagpur North Assembly Constituency filed a formal complaint with EC calling Shelarrsquos remarks ldquohighly objectionablerdquo and ldquolegally impermissiblerdquo He said the statement was intended to ldquocreate communal divisionrdquo and ldquoinfluence voters along religious linesrdquoWith PTI inputs