The elections for local self-government bodies in the state are about to take place soon. These elections had been postponed due to hearings in the court. Now, the path for these elections has been cleared, and the necessary legal procedures have already begun. Amid this political hustle, a delegation from the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) recently met the Election Commission. Senior leaders like Sharad Pawar, Uddhav Thackeray, Raj Thackeray, Balasaheb Thorat, Jayant Patil, and others met with the officials of the Election Commission.

During this meeting, the MVA leaders raised objections about the voter lists and criticized the functioning of the Commission. Judging by the language used by MVA leaders in the press conference afterward, it clearly reflected their defeatist mindset even before the battle had begun.

Errors in the voter lists are not a new issue. For many years, there have been numerous complaints about inaccuracies in voter names, fathers’ names, ages, and addresses. Even on polling days, many voters complain about their names being missing from the lists. The MVA leaders, while addressing the media, were pointing out such mistakes as if they had made a major discovery.

By observing their body language, it seemed as though they had already accepted defeat before the elections even began. The MVA leadership is still reeling from the shock of their crushing defeat in the Assembly elections, and hence they have started searching for excuses in advance.

The Election Commission is an autonomous institution. The election process involves countless administrative steps, carried out by employees from various departments of the Central and State governments. Responsibilities like door-to-door voter registration and work at polling stations are assigned to teachers, professors, and other government officials. From preparing voter lists to actual polling and vote counting, millions of government employees are involved.

Those accusing the Election Commission are well aware of these facts, yet leaders like Uddhav Thackeray and Sanjay Raut continue to target the Commission to cover up their failures.

Now, a new face has joined the MVA bandwagon in the form of Raj Thackeray. Since 2014, Raj Thackeray, repeatedly rejected by voters is now relying on MVA to maintain his political relevance. Earlier, he had blamed EVMs for his defeat. The double standards of MVA leaders including Raj Thackeray.over issues like voter lists and EVMs have been exposed time and again.

Recently, the Election Commission had launched a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) program in Bihar to correct inaccuracies such as duplicate names, wrong addresses, and incorrect ages in voter lists. Congress, Lalu Prasad Yadav, Uddhav Thackeray, and Sharad Pawar had strongly opposed that initiative, claiming it was meant to remove anti-BJP voters from the rolls. Ironically, the same leaders in Maharashtra are now demanding that elections be postponed until the voter lists are corrected. This blatant hypocrisy is on full display.

After the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, when Uddhav Thackeray, Sharad Pawar, Nana Patole, and Sanjay Raut celebrated their success, none of them questioned voter lists or EVMs then. They proudly said, “Voters have trusted MVA and taught NDA a lesson.” But now, when they anticipate defeat, they have started blaming EVMs and voter lists. This has become a favorite game for opposition leaders ‘praise the system when they win and criticize it when they lose.’

If they truly mistrust EVMs and believe voter lists are faulty, then MVA’s MPs from Maharashtra should show courage and resign from Parliament. But none of them has the courage to do that.

The terms of the local self-government bodies ended in 2022, and several municipal councils’ terms ended even earlier, in 2021. Since then, municipal corporations, councils, zilla parishads, and panchayat samitis have been functioning under government-appointed administrators like commissioners and chief officers. For the past three and a half to four years, these vital pillars of democracy have been operating without elected representatives.

Instead of taking initiative to conduct elections promptly and uphold the principle of decentralization of power, opposition leaders like Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar have begun wailing out of fear of defeat.

On the auspicious occasion of Diwali, let us pray that wisdom dawns upon the MVA leaders.

END OF ARTICLE