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Referring to a letter by former Union Home Secretary R K Singh, Raj said, “According to former Union Home Secretary R K Singh, special revision can be done in exceptional circumstances by recording the reasons in writing and for a specific constituency. It is illegal to conduct SIR across India. There is no provision in the law in this regard,” he said.

Raj said such circumstances could include a major natural disaster, migration, large-scale duplication of names or complaints regarding the voter list. “Therefore, the case that is going on now is illegal,” he said.

“Voters were to be increased during the Assembly elections and now two crore people have been taken out in SIR. Are these our voters? Who are they?” Raj said, asking all political parties to demand that the exercise be cancelled.

Raj also called for an end to voting through EVMs. “The voting machines in this country should be shut down and voters should vote on ballot papers. If these two things happen, it will be clear who is right and who is wrong. It doesn’t matter who comes to power tomorrow,” he said.

Raising ‘vote chori’ since 2017-18: Raj Thackeray

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Raj said he had spoken about vote “theft” with Congress leader Sonia Gandhi, former West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, and NCP leaders long back.

“Today, we are here for ‘vote chori’. I have been saying since 2017-18 that vote chori is happening,” he said. He claimed that he had told Opposition leaders at the time to boycott elections so that the alleged irregularities would come to light.

Raj also questioned the increase in voter numbers between the 2024 Lok Sabha and Assembly elections, citing the difference to allege manipulation.

The Election Commission, however, has maintained that the increase in Maharashtra’s electorate was within the normal range and has said the 2.07 crore enumeration forms that could not be collected during SIR should not be treated as final deletions. The draft roll contained about 7.72 crore electors against 9.79 crore before the exercise.

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Raj also asked the Election Commission to spell out how many of the people left out of the draft rolls had been identified as illegal Bangladeshi immigrants.

“Are those two crore people Bangladeshis? How many Bangladeshis have you found? Give us their details, we ourselves will find them and throw them out of the country,” he said.

‘Manufacturing a dictator under Make in India’

Uddhav questioned the centralisation of decisions relating to voter verification. Referring to a communication from Maharashtra Chief Electoral Officer S Chockalingam to the Election Commission, he said local election officials should have greater powers.

“Our state’s Chief Election Officer has written to the Election Commission asking to give rights to local officers after he realised that the right to decide voting rights is not with the local BLOs but has been centralised. It is with Gyanesh Kumar. Who is he to decide this?” Uddhav said.

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“Gyanesh Kumar is their weapon. Using him, they are taking away the right to vote also. You can control institutions, but the streets belong to us. The SIR must be scrapped,” he said.

Uddhav also questioned Kumar’s appointment as the CEC, alleging bias in the selection process. He criticised the change in the composition of the selection committee for election commissioners and alleged that Kumar was appointed despite Opposition objections.

Targeting the government, Uddhav said, “If, under ‘Make in India’, you are also going to manufacture a dictator in our country, then we have gathered here today to bury that dictatorship and put an end to it.”

He also alleged that the exclusion of around 13 crore names from draft rolls across the country during the wider SIR exercise amounted to disenfranchisement.

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The march was held amid a wider Opposition campaign against the Election Commission over SIR and the functioning of the poll panel. In Maharashtra, the Election Commission has extended the deadline for filing claims and objections on the draft voter list to October 12, with the process of issuing and deciding notices extended to November 10.