Mumbai: Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray on Sunday led a joint protest march against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, alleging irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and demanding his resignation.
The ‘Virat Garjana Morcha’ began at Metro Cinema and proceeded towards the BMC headquarters, with Congress and Sharad Pawar-led NCP (SP) leaders also participating. Party flags were barred, with protesters asked to carry only the national tricolour.
Raj Thackeray demanded cancellation of Maharashtra’s SIR, questioned alleged deletion of two crore voters and called for elections to be held using ballot papers instead of voting machines.
He also urged opposition parties to approach Delhi over the issue.
Uddhav Thackeray alleged that 13 crore names had been deleted from electoral rolls across the country and criticised what he described as arbitrary rule, invoking Adolf Hitler in his remarks.
Sanjay Raut said the protest was against alleged attempts to undermine democratic institutions, elections and constitutional rights. He also questioned Union Home Minister Amit Shah over allegations of misconduct involving a woman journalist at Jantar Mantar.
The Thackeray cousins had announced the October 4 march last month, seeking participation from opposition parties including the Congress and NCP.
