BJP’s Ashish Shelar accused Uddhav and Raj Thackeray of appeasement politics, alleging they only highlight Hindu/Marathi duplicate voters. He claimed they “conveniently ignore” Muslim duplicate names in electoral rolls for seats like Karjat-Jamkhed.
Maharashtra Minister and BJP leader Ashish Shelar on Monday took a jibe at Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray and MNS chief Raj Thackeray, alleging that they only point out the Hindu and Marathi duplicate voters, “conveniently ignoring” Muslims for their appeasement politics.
Shelar Alleges Selective Targeting by Thackerays
Addressing a press conference in Mumbai, Shelar highlighted the names of Muslim voters, which are allegedly repeated with different EPIC numbers in Karjat-Jamkhed and Sakoli assembly seats. He said, “BJP has cleared its position: Justice for all and appeasement for none. We are also of the firm view that the Electoral rolls must be clean and no duplicate names should be there. But, do you (Maha Vikas Aghadi and MNS) only see Hindu and Marathi voters?”
Showing a presentation of repeated names in the voter list, he added, “We also have repeated names of many voters… Seats like Karjat-Jamkhed, Sakoli…”
Alleging “appeasement” by Uddhav and Raj Thackeray, he asked, “Raj Thackeray and Uddhav Thackeray, I ask you both if you are also following the path of appeasement done by Congress? You are pointing out where there are repeated names of Hindu and Marathi voters, but you are conveniently ignoring Muslim names in Karjat Jamkhed, Islampur, Bandra East, and Mumbra Kalwa seats.”
“Uddhav ji I request you to do an Ideology wapsi to your original ideology. If you have to oppose us, then oppose, but do not do what you are doing against Hindus and Marathi people just for appeasement of Muslim votes,” he added.
Background: Protest Against Electoral Roll Manipulation
This comes after the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) and the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) held their ‘Satyacha Morcha’ in Mumbai on November 1 despite not receiving police permission for the march. The rally was being organised to protest against alleged electoral roll manipulation in the 2024 Maharashtra Assembly elections, with opposition parties alleging that there were around 96 lakh fake votes that had been added in the electoral rolls.
The Opposition is pointing out the alleged fake votes ahead of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections likely to be held later this year.
Meanwhile, a case under Sections 223 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and 37(3), 135 of the Bombay Police Act against Opposition leaders Bala Nandgaonkar, Baban Mahadik, Arvind Gawade, Santosh Shinde, Baban Gharat, Jaywant Naik and others for violation of prohibitory orders and violation of notified rules. (ANI)
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