The Nationalist Congress Party–Sharadchandra Pawar (NCP-SP) and the Congress have announced their participation in the October 4 protest march being organised by Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
NCP-SP MP Supriya Sule and Maharashtra Congress leader Nana Patole confirmed that they would join the protest after the Thackeray cousins invited opposition parties to participate in the march. The protest is focused on concerns raised by the opposition over the Election Commission’s handling of the electoral-roll revision and its functioning under Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
The march is scheduled to begin from the Richardson Cruddas area in Byculla at 10 am on October 4 and move towards the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation headquarters near Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus. Organisers have described it as a “Jan Morcha” and said participants will carry the national Tricolour instead of party flags.
Raj Thackeray has called on people and political parties to join the protest, while Uddhav Thackeray has also sought participation from opposition parties. The decision by the Congress and NCP-SP to join the march gives the October 4 demonstration a broader opposition presence.
Patole said the protest should not remain restricted to political organisations and should develop into a wider public movement.
“Democracy is being murdered in broad daylight. Gyanesh Kumar is benefiting the BJP. Congress believes democracy must be protected. Everyone who believes in democracy is now taking to the streets,” Patole said.
The opposition’s objections centre on the SIR exercise and its impact on electoral rolls. The Election Commission has maintained that the revision is part of the electoral-roll process, while opposition parties have raised concerns about the deletion of names and the manner in which the exercise is being conducted.
An Indian Express investigation reported in September that more than 13 crore names had been removed from draft electoral rolls across 30 states and Union Territories during the SIR exercise. The report also said Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had recorded objections on at least 14 occasions over 10 months concerning decisions and orders they said were taken without their knowledge.
The figures refer to names excluded from draft rolls and do not by themselves establish that all such exclusions were wrongful; the electoral-roll revision process also includes procedures for claims and objections.
The October 4 Mumbai march comes amid a wider political campaign by opposition parties against the SIR exercise and the Election Commission. The INDIA bloc has separately announced a programme of protests and demonstrations over electoral-roll revision and other election-related issues.
With the Congress and NCP-SP now joining the Thackerays’ march, the October 4 protest is expected to bring together several opposition groups in Mumbai around their concerns over the SIR process and the Election Commission.
