Political friction in Maharashtra escalated significantly on Tuesday as Shiv Sena leader Uddhav Thackeray mounted a fierce attack against the ruling BJP and Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over the implementation of the SIR exercise. Defending the large protest rally organized in Mumbai by the Maha Vikas Aghadi alongside associated democratic groups, Thackeray countered remarks made by top government figures. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had earlier dismissed the opposition gathering as a desperate attempt to regain lost political ground, while state minister Ashish Shelar labeled the demonstrations cheap politics and termed the raised demands mere screaming.
Disenfranchisement Claims and Political Retaliation
Condemning the stance of the ruling administration, the Thackeray camp characterized the remarks as a direct insult to citizens. They accused the governing party of exhibiting arrogance and relying on a compromised electoral body to stay in power. According to Shiv Sena (UBT), approximately 130 million voters across India, including more than 20 million from Maharashtra alone, have had their voting rights arbitrarily revoked without adequate notice or fair formal hearings.
Highlighting the gravity of public dissent, the party warned that citizens taking to the streets with national flags cannot be trivialized. The mouthpiece emphasized that when 500,000 to 1,000,000 citizens collectively register their anguish against institutional injustice, it generates the force required to topple authoritarian governance. Labeling such public demonstrations as mere whining was described as an affront to the national flag itself.
Judicial Scrutiny and Administrative Objections
To substantiate criticism surrounding the SIR procedure, the opposition pointed to sharp observations from Supreme Court Justice Ujjal Bhuyan. Justice Bhuyan had noted that any arbitrary mechanism depriving individuals of their franchise breaches the constitutional framework. He had remarked that taking away a citizen's right to vote is comparable to separating the soul from the body, stressing that the names of living voters cannot be deleted without proper due process and advance notice.
The critique further highlighted statements from former Union Home Secretary and former Union Minister RK Singh, who had publicly branded the nationwide SIR drive unlawful. Singh had pointed out that purging electors without thorough ground verification or formal hearings represents a direct violation of Section 22 of the Representation of the People Act.
Demands for Paper Ballots and Cancellation of SIR
The editorial challenged the administration on whether it would also brush aside the considered viewpoints of an experienced administrative officer and a sitting apex court judge as meaningless noise. It urged Fadnavis and his ministerial colleagues to declare openly whether legal and procedural objections raised by seasoned constitutional figures also amount to mere shouting in their assessment.
Demonstrators who marched through the streets of Mumbai reaffirmed their core agenda, demanding an immediate scrap of the current SIR protocol. Alongside halting the voter roll revision drive, the protestors called for the decommissioning of electronic voting machines (EVMs) and a comprehensive return to paper ballot voting across all elections.
