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‘Vote Chori’ Row: Thackeray Cousins Unite, Urge Cadres to Remain Alert; Fadnavis Fires Back Citing Ghalib
- by Webdesk
- 25 Aug 2025
Source: The Times Of India
Thackeray Cousins Raise Alarm Over ‘Vote Theft’; CM Fadnavis Counters Allegations
MUMBAI: As the municipal elections in Maharashtra draw closer, the political atmosphere is heating up with allegations of “vote-chori” dominating the debate. The Thackeray cousins—Raj Thackeray of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) and Uddhav Thackeray of the Shiv Sena (UBT)—have now echoed Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s claims of serious irregularities in polling and voter list enumeration.
A day after Raj Thackeray highlighted this issue at a rally in Pune, his cousin Uddhav Thackeray took the matter further during a meeting with his party workers in Dahisar. Addressing the gathering, Uddhav urged his cadre to be extremely vigilant. “Keep your eyes wide open. Go through the voters’ list carefully and ensure it is not filled with bogus names. See to it that no individual manages to cast their vote two or three times,” he cautioned.
Raising doubts over the sudden spike in the number of registered voters, Uddhav questioned the legitimacy of the electoral process. “How is it possible that the voter list in Maharashtra has increased by 40 to 42 lakh people in such a short span? Who are these mysterious additions? Find them and ensure they do not misuse the system to vote,” he said. He further asserted that if elections are conducted fairly, “it would be impossible for the ruling parties to retain power—especially in Maharashtra.”
Supporting Uddhav’s remarks, senior Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut alleged that the ruling BJP has systematically manipulated the democratic process. “Raj Thackeray had spoken about this earlier too. Narendra Modi became the Prime Minister by stealing votes. This is no different from how the army takes over power in Pakistan,” Raut declared, intensifying the political storm.
Raj Thackeray, while speaking at his Pune rally on Saturday, reiterated his long-standing concern about vote manipulation. “For many years, I have been saying this openly. I had even met Opposition leaders like NCP supremo Sharad Pawar and TMC chief Mamata Banerjee to suggest that we should boycott the Lok Sabha elections. What is the point of contesting when our votes are simply being stolen? Those in power are robbing us of the mandate,” Raj thundered.
He added that the results of the previous Maharashtra assembly elections had also raised eyebrows. “The Mahayuti alliance claimed victory in as many as 230 seats. Yet, there was no genuine celebration among their workers. Why? Because even their supporters couldn’t believe they had won, and the Opposition couldn’t believe they had lost. This itself shows how manipulated the results were,” Raj argued.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis hit back strongly at the Thackeray cousins, accusing them of deflecting from their own political failures. “Raj and Uddhav should first sit down and analyse why people have lost trust in them. Until they honestly accept the truth, they will continue to remain in denial,” Fadnavis said.
Pointing to the BJP’s rise to power under Narendra Modi, Fadnavis reminded that in 2014 the Congress held both the central and state governments. “Why did people then reject the Congress, and why did they lose so badly? The Thackerays and their allies should be asking themselves these questions instead of making baseless allegations of vote theft,” he added.
With both Raj and Uddhav Thackeray raising the same issue simultaneously, political observers believe that the cousins may be inching closer to a temporary understanding against the BJP–Shinde camp. Their united voice on “vote chori” has not only energized their cadres but also brought the contentious issue of voter list manipulation to the forefront of Maharashtra’s election discourse.
As the municipal polls approach, the coming days are likely to see even more fiery exchanges, with allegations of irregularities clashing against counter-charges of political irrelevance. One thing, however, is certain—the battle for Mumbai’s civic body has moved beyond just governance issues and straight into the heart of electoral credibility.
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