The Crossbill News Desk
Massive irregularities in Maharashtra’s draft electoral rolls have triggered political uproar and raised questions about the preparedness for upcoming civic body elections, as fresh investigations reveal widespread duplication of voter entries in Mumbai and inexplicable registrations linked to coaching institutes in Nanded.
Reports by Aaj Tak and The Quint have brought these discrepancies to light, prompting the State Election Commission (SEC) to step in and extend the window for filing objections.
In Mumbai, data obtained by Aaj Tak shows that duplicate names account for an alarming 10.64% of the city’s 1.03 crore registered voters. This translates to nearly 11.01 lakh repeated entries in the draft list. One extreme case involved a single voter whose name appeared 103 times. Officials have attributed the situation to printing errors, migration of voters and outdated records that failed to remove the names of deceased residents.
The problem is particularly severe in areas where the opposition has traditionally held sway. According to Aaj Tak, four of the five wards with the highest number of duplicates were earlier represented by Shiv Sena (UBT) or the Nationalist Congress Party (Sharad Pawar). Ward 199 in Worli, represented by former Mumbai mayor Kishori Pednekar, recorded the highest number with 8,207 duplicate entries.
Acknowledging the magnitude of the cleanup required, the SEC has extended the deadline for objections from November 27 to December 3. Officials indicated that the scrutiny and rectification process could delay the civic polls beyond the Supreme Court-mandated deadline of January 31, 2026, pushing them into February.
Meanwhile in Nanded, a separate investigation by The Quint uncovered equally startling anomalies. In Ward No. 5 of the Nanded Waghala Corporation, over 600 voters were found to be registered using the addresses of two coaching institutes — IIB Career Institute and RCC Pattern Coaching. Additionally, 3,587 voters listed their address as simply “not applicable” (NA).
Dashrath Patil, MD of the IIB Career Institute, told The Quint that the students registered at the institute addresses had long since moved out.
“The Collector at the time was given a target to enroll as many voters to the list as possible… These students don’t live here now,” he said.
A booth level officer acknowledged to the publication that pressure to fulfil enrolment targets resulted in procedural shortcuts, including using institutional addresses when students’ Aadhaar cards reflected only their native hometowns.
The revelations have drawn sharp criticism from opposition parties. Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray, who had demanded an extension to the objection period, called the situation “highly condemnable and unforgivable”, warning that unresolved discrepancies would cast “doubts over the fairness of the election process.”
Mumbai Congress president and MP Varsha Gaikwad said that the discovery of more than 11 lakh duplicate voters could fundamentally distort the election.
“The list of more than 11 lakh duplicate voters in the city should be made public,” she said, adding that arbitrary reassignment of voters to incorrect wards could “significantly alter electoral outcomes.”
Even within the ruling MahaYuti alliance, concerns have surfaced. Deputy chief minister and NCP leader Ajit Pawar, speaking in Satara, conceded the scale of the issue.
“The count of double, triple, quadruple voters in Mumbai is around 11 lakh,” he said.
“This kind of double, triple voting will not be tolerated in Maharashtra.” Pawar has urged the Election Commission to intervene to ensure the integrity of the process.
Reports by Aaj Tak and The Quint have brought these discrepancies to light, prompting the State Election Commission (SEC) to step in and extend the window for filing objections.
In Mumbai, data obtained by Aaj Tak shows that duplicate names account for an alarming 10.64% of the city’s 1.03 crore registered voters. This translates to nearly 11.01 lakh repeated entries in the draft list. One extreme case involved a single voter whose name appeared 103 times. Officials have attributed the situation to printing errors, migration of voters and outdated records that failed to remove the names of deceased residents.
The problem is particularly severe in areas where the opposition has traditionally held sway. According to Aaj Tak, four of the five wards with the highest number of duplicates were earlier represented by Shiv Sena (UBT) or the Nationalist Congress Party (Sharad Pawar). Ward 199 in Worli, represented by former Mumbai mayor Kishori Pednekar, recorded the highest number with 8,207 duplicate entries.
Acknowledging the magnitude of the cleanup required, the SEC has extended the deadline for objections from November 27 to December 3. Officials indicated that the scrutiny and rectification process could delay the civic polls beyond the Supreme Court-mandated deadline of January 31, 2026, pushing them into February.
Meanwhile in Nanded, a separate investigation by The Quint uncovered equally startling anomalies. In Ward No. 5 of the Nanded Waghala Corporation, over 600 voters were found to be registered using the addresses of two coaching institutes — IIB Career Institute and RCC Pattern Coaching. Additionally, 3,587 voters listed their address as simply “not applicable” (NA).
Dashrath Patil, MD of the IIB Career Institute, told The Quint that the students registered at the institute addresses had long since moved out.
“The Collector at the time was given a target to enroll as many voters to the list as possible… These students don’t live here now,” he said.
A booth level officer acknowledged to the publication that pressure to fulfil enrolment targets resulted in procedural shortcuts, including using institutional addresses when students’ Aadhaar cards reflected only their native hometowns.
The revelations have drawn sharp criticism from opposition parties. Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray, who had demanded an extension to the objection period, called the situation “highly condemnable and unforgivable”, warning that unresolved discrepancies would cast “doubts over the fairness of the election process.”
Mumbai Congress president and MP Varsha Gaikwad said that the discovery of more than 11 lakh duplicate voters could fundamentally distort the election.
“The list of more than 11 lakh duplicate voters in the city should be made public,” she said, adding that arbitrary reassignment of voters to incorrect wards could “significantly alter electoral outcomes.”
Even within the ruling MahaYuti alliance, concerns have surfaced. Deputy chief minister and NCP leader Ajit Pawar, speaking in Satara, conceded the scale of the issue.
“The count of double, triple, quadruple voters in Mumbai is around 11 lakh,” he said.
“This kind of double, triple voting will not be tolerated in Maharashtra.” Pawar has urged the Election Commission to intervene to ensure the integrity of the process.
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