Thackeray cousins unite in protest against Election Commission chief

The two leaders focused their ire on the mechanisms governing recent voter list updates, which they claim are being weaponized to disenfranchise citizens. Uddhav Thackeray alleged that 13 crore names have been purged from rolls nationwide, framing the Election Commission’s current leadership as an instrument of a broader authoritarian agenda. He specifically challenged the legal process behind Gyanesh Kumar’s appointment, noting the exclusion of the Chief Justice of India from the selection committee.

Raj Thackeray shifted the focus to the local impact in Maharashtra, demanding the immediate cancellation of the Special Intensive Revision exercise. He argued that the process lacks justification, asserting that two crore voters are being systematically removed after a suspicious influx of new names during the recent Assembly elections. Beyond the roll controversy, both leaders reiterated long-standing demands for a return to paper ballots, casting doubt on the reliability of existing electronic voting machines. While the Election Commission maintains that the revision is a routine administrative measure to clean electoral databases, the Thackeray-led coalition continues to pressure the central government to prove the efficacy of these measures in identifying non-citizens, specifically questioning the failure to secure borders against illegal entry.