Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray on Sunday demanded the scrapping of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls while his cousin and Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of using power to pursue political vendettas.
Apart from seeking the removal of CEC Gyanesh Kumar , Raj Thackeray, who addressed the rally first, also demanded the scrapping the SIR and a return to holding elections with ballot papers.
“Our demand is that the entire SIR conducted in Maharashtra should be cancelled,” he said. “There should be only ballot paper voting.”
Mumbai Police files FIR
Uddhav Thackeray said that Sunday’s gathering was not part of any particular political party’s agenda, but a fight to protect the nation, democracy and the Constitution. “Gyanesh Kumar is a weapon of the BJP,” he said. “An offence has been registered at the Azad Maidan police station against the organisers for conducting today’s morcha without requisite permission,” DCP Manish Kalwaniya said.
Opposition leaders call for unity to protect democracy
Let us unite for it. Hitting out at the opposition leaders, Maharashtra cultural affairs minister and BJP leader Ashish Shelar mocked the joint protest, calling it a ‘kolhekui morcha’ (march of foxes).
Congress’s Balasaheb Thorat said, “We have a historical responsibility to save democracy and the Constitution.
