Amid the campaign of opposition parties against alleged ‘vote theft’, Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray on Monday announced that his party will set up ‘voter identification centres’ at its ‘shakhas’, or local offices, to prevent bogus voters.
“Considering the vote theft and anomalies in voters list we have decided to set up ‘Voter Identification Centres’ at Shakha level. Once the voter list for local body election is released by authorities our ‘Voter Identification Centres’ will start. Our party workers will undertake voter verification drives in each area. But I urge all the people to come forward to check their names and details in the voters list and to verify the voters in their area, society, building etc,” Thackeray said, adding that citizens should check if unknown names are added in their homes or buildings or lanes.
Thackeray also demanded to continue the new voter registration till the elections are announced. He also urged youth who have completed 18 years of age to register their names with Shakhas so that we can come to know how many eligible voters are not getting their rights to vote. “Why did the government stop the voter registration process in July much before elections? Why is the government scared of Gen Z?” Thackeray asked.
He also thanked BJP leader and minister Chandrakant Patil for publicly saying Shiv Sena belongs to Thackeray only. “Statement of Shelar and Patil proves that there is unrest in BJP due to injustice with leaders and it’s coming out now. I thanked Chandrakant Patil for admitting that Shiv Sena belongs to Thackeray and not to someone else,” Thackeray added.