BJP alleges "manipulative revision" of voters list in Mumbai

MUMBAI: BJP today alleged manipulation in revision of voters list in Mumbai, claiming names of valid voters in segments where Opposition had a good following were deleted on a large scale.

"In the Congress-held Mankhurd assembly segment 786 names were deleted, while in BJP stronghold Mulund, 35,714 voters were struck off the rolls," BJP leader Kirit Somaiya said.

"The deletion is extreme in Opposition strongholds and negligible in Congress-dominated segments," he told reporters.

The names have been deleted from voters list by the Election Commission, after conducting a house-to-house survey to identify voters who have either shifted, expired or replicated (whose names appeared more than once in the electoral role), he said.

Mumbai BJP president Ashish Shelar said that in Khar and Bandra, names of 16 persons were deleted, despite the fact that they were still residing at the specified address.

"The Election Commission has assured us that two senior officers have been named observers and would probe rigging of voters list in Mumbai," Somaiya said.

The EC has also sought a clarification from the state chief electoral officers, he said.

In Congress-held Chandivli segment, almost 95 per cent of the names added to the voters list are either persons from other states or Bangladeshis, he said.