BMC Elections : Delay on the cards for BMC polls — SEC to re-examine the draft electoral roll before proceeding

by Webdesk
25 Nov 2025

Mumbai: In view of increasing objections from opposition parties and detailed inputs from municipal officials, the Maharashtra State Election Commission (SEC) is preparing to prolong the schedule for finalising the draft voters’ list for the upcoming Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections. This adjustment, if executed, is expected to push the poll dates back by at least two weeks from the original timeline.

Multiple opposition groups — mainly the Shiv Sena (UBT) and the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) — have accused the authorities of severe irregularities in the recently issued draft voter list. Their complaints highlight several problems such as a large number of duplicate voter entries, names wrongly removed from the list, and voters shifting to incorrect or unrelated wards. Parallel to political criticism, civic officials have also reported to the SEC that the process of finalising the rolls has been difficult due to widespread mismatches and errors across wards.

According to official sources, the BMC has submitted a detailed list identifying the wards where large numbers of voters appear to have been transferred to other wards without proper justification. Numerous complaints from citizens, political representatives, and officials prompted this submission. In addition, the BMC commissioner has officially requested the SEC to allow a set of corrections to the draft list before its final publication.

State election commissioner Dinesh Waghmare confirmed that the process is currently under review. He stated, “We are updating our communication to the BMC, enabling them to correct mistakes in the draft voter rolls. Completing this exercise will take several more days, which may postpone the BMC election schedule. We will either continue working until the close of the January 31 deadline or place a request before the Supreme Court for an extension.”

Earlier, on November 13, the SEC had already postponed the deadline for releasing the finalised voters’ list — shifting the date from November 28 to December 5 due to the BMC’s request for more time. However, new discrepancies have surfaced after that extension, following which the civic body has sought additional time yet again.

A senior BMC official — choosing to remain unnamed — mentioned that while opposition parties have been strongly demanding a three-week extension, the SEC is more inclined to provide only a one-week extension rather than the longer duration sought. Should this extension be granted, the declaration of the election schedule will also be postponed, ultimately leading to a delay in the actual polling dates for Mumbai.

The same official also pointed out that the volume of suspected duplicate voter entries is extraordinarily high — estimated to be around 1.1 million voters, which represents 10.6% of the city’s total voting population. Because of this massive scale of questionable entries, the municipal administration has decided to act carefully to avoid future criticism and to ensure accuracy before the voters’ list is finalised. The civic authorities believe that rushing the process could result in greater controversy and even more objections from political parties and the public.

Given the gravity of the errors pointed out and the constantly rising complaints, both the SEC and the BMC appear cautious about releasing the final list without thorough verification. Officials fear that publishing the list in its current form could raise further disputes during the election period — ultimately affecting the legitimacy of the electoral process in Mumbai.

Opposition parties, meanwhile, continue to highlight the urgency of correcting these faults before the election schedule is announced. Both the Shiv Sena (UBT) and the MNS have insisted that failure to rectify such issues would deprive thousands of eligible voters of their right to vote and could trigger a major political uproar. They maintain that the draft electoral roll does not reflect ground reality and that such inaccuracies could influence the final election outcome.

At the same time, the BMC administration is under pressure from both political groups and the SEC to ensure accuracy while also meeting the deadlines set for completing electoral preparations. If the SEC seeks permission from the Supreme Court to extend the timeline, the court’s decision will ultimately determine whether the elections remain within the planned schedule or shift into a later phase.

In summary, the BMC election process is currently in a delicate stage. The electoral authority is trying to balance the need for error-free voter rolls with the urgency of conducting polls within constitutional deadlines. With the scale of corrections required, and given the huge percentage of disputed entries, a delay in elections increasingly appears unavoidable unless a breakthrough is achieved quickly.

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02 Jan 2026

BMC Elections

BMC Elections : Delay on the cards for BMC polls — SEC to re-examine the draft electoral roll before proceeding

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