Mumbai: Opposition parties slammed the State Election Commission on the use of marker pens and alleged mismanagement of the polling process with complaints of missing names from the voter list across the city.Shiv Sena (UBT) president Uddhav Thackeray demanded suspension of state election commissioner Dinesh Waghmare and action against municipal commissioner Bhushan Gagrani over alleged irregularities in the BMC polls. Thackeray said it was an attempt to “murder” democracy.MP Varsha Gaikwad, who is the Congress city unit chief, also slammed the SEC, saying there was utter mismanagement. “Wherever I went in Mumbai, everyone had complaints. Names were missing from the voter list, and due to the voting center information not being properly provided, voters had to go to two or three centers, and even then, unable to vote, people returned home,” Gaikwad said in a post on X. AICC secretary Sachin Sawant said on social media: “This is a demonstration of how nail polish remover removes the ink from the finger in the Mumbai Municipal Corporation election…This time, there has been gross mismanagement by the State Election Commission. This incident is unfortunate. Who tested the ink? Wasn’t proper care taken beforehand? Action must be taken against the officers.”Thackeray said: “SEC has no work. This year, the work of distributing money, many things have been revealed through social media. I went to Thane with Raj, there too our candidates were asked to withdraw their candidature after being offered crores. Mahayuti has no ability to win the municipal elections. Ganesh Naik’s polling station was missing. It took him four hours to find the polling station. This is the condition of the ministers. The SEC should be suspended, because he is making free money and making the rulers helpless.” He said: “I have been receiving calls from different places, including Mumbai and other cities, that there is confusion in the electoral rolls. Names are being omitted, this confusion is not going away. I was informed that the royal marks on my fingers are being erased. It should be made mandatory for the SEC to tell what he did today on his website every day. Otherwise, the workers of political parties should be made to sit in the Election Commissioner’s office every day. So that we too can know what these ‘bhais’ (goons) do throughout the year and when there are no elections. This election or list mess should be stopped immediately, otherwise action should be taken against the State Election Commissioner.”MNS chief Raj Thackeray slammed the SEC over use of “markers instead of indelible ink”. “Now, the only option left is to apply the ink, go outside, wipe it off, and then go back inside and vote again. They (the govt) don’t want the opposition parties. The entire administration is being run by the govt (to win the polls). This is not a sign of a healthy democracy. There is a limit to misuse of power,” he said. NCP (SP) MLA Rohit Pawar too slammed the SEC, saying it is a “toothless tiger” and “BJP will win by managing SEC, not because of public opinion”. He shared a video on X alleging that the ink applied on the finger is being wiped off immediately after voting.
