Prithviraj Chavan Rejects Election Boycott as Maharashtra Tensions Rise

Chavan dismissed the boycott strategy championed by MNS chief Raj Thackeray as fundamentally incorrect. Instead of withdrawing from the ballot, the Congress leader shifted focus to the integrity of the electoral rolls. He alleged that during the 2024 elections, his own constituency was compromised by the inclusion of duplicate voters who cast multiple ballots. He described these systemic issues as an act of election theft, claiming that minority communities and voters sympathetic to Congress were systematically disenfranchised.

Simultaneously, the political landscape in Maharashtra has grown volatile. Raj and Uddhav Thackeray recently led a march to the BMC headquarters to protest against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. Their primary grievance concerns the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls, which Raj Thackeray claims is being used to purge two crore voters from the registry. He has called on opposition parties to descend on Delhi to demand a return to paper ballots. Meanwhile, Uddhav Thackeray questioned the appointment process of the Election Commission, specifically criticizing the exclusion of the Chief Justice of India from the selection committee.