Holding elections without improving electoral roll is like making a mockery of democracy: Sanjay Raut

Mumbai, October 17 (IANS). The excitement for local elections has increased in Maharashtra. Election dates for Mumbai Municipal Corporation, Zilla Parishad, Municipal Corporation and other metropolitan municipalities are expected to be announced soon. Meanwhile, opposition parties have raised concerns about the transparency and fairness of the election process. In this context, Shiv Sena (UBT) Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut said on Friday that there is a need to take local body elections seriously. He said whatever errors there are in the electoral roll should be corrected. Voter lists must be accurate. If there is a fault in the election machinery, such elections will have no meaning. The Supreme Court ordered to complete the election process by January 31. Fake names should be removed from the electoral roll and those whose names are missing should be added. Senior officials of Maharashtra are unable to take decisions, it is a sad situation. Sanjay Raut further said that the all-party delegation met the Chief Electoral Officer regarding irregularities in the electoral roll of Maharashtra. There are reports of irregularities in local elections, particularly in Mumbai Municipal Corporation and Thane. The addition/deletion of wrong names and many other problems emerge. A large number of names are missing, and responsibility for this is unclear. Unless any improvement is made in this list, holding elections will be like making a mockery of democracy. Taking the example of resignation of Gujarat government ministers, Sanjay Raut demanded that a similar step should be taken in Maharashtra as well. He said, “Except Devendra Fadnavis, resignation should be taken from all the other leaders. More than half of the ministers are corrupt. A large number of bags of corrupt ministers are being transported to Delhi.” He expressed concern about the condition of farmers and said that nothing is coming into the hands of farmers because of the policies of the government. The twin-engine government was unsuccessful in protecting the interests of farmers. On the growing closeness between Uddhav Thackeray and Raj Thackeray, he said, “Both the leaders have been working together for many months. Whatever steps will be taken in future, they will clarify at the appropriate time.” Taking a look at CM Devendra Fadnavis’ role as a star campaigner in Bihar, Sanjay Raut said, “He is not a star but a superstar campaigner. Why should a person from Maharashtra go to Bihar to campaign? In BJP, stars are born by birth.” –IANS AKS/DSC Share this story Tags