Maharashtra CM questions opposition’s attempt to link the 2024 Assembly polls with Gyanesh Kumar’s 2025 appointment and the ongoing SIR exercise
Mumbai, Oct 2026 : Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Sunday criticised the joint protest led by Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, accusing the opposition leaders of targeting the Election Commission out of frustration over electoral setbacks.
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a programme, Fadnavis described the Thackeray cousins as “Ghajinis”, referring to the 2008 Hindi film whose protagonist suffers from short-term memory loss. He questioned their attempt to connect the 2024 Maharashtra Assembly elections with Kumar’s appointment as Chief Election Commissioner in 2025 and the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls being undertaken in 2026.
“The morcha was an attempt to find back their lost ground. Despite all the hype, the attendance at the march was thin,” Fadnavis said.
Earlier in the day, Uddhav and Raj Thackeray jointly led the ‘Virat Garjana Morcha’ in Mumbai, demanding Kumar’s resignation and opposing the SIR exercise in Maharashtra. The march drew participation from Congress and Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) leaders and proceeded through south Mumbai towards the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation headquarters.
Congress leaders Balasaheb Thorat and Vijay Wadettiwar joined the protest, while the NCP (SP) was represented by leaders including Jayant Patil, Shashikant Shinde, Jitendra Awhad and Anil Deshmukh.
The opposition parties have alleged irregularities in the revision of electoral rolls and demanded the removal of the Chief Election Commissioner. Protesters also raised concerns over Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and called for a return to ballot-paper voting. Raj Thackeray separately demanded that the SIR exercise be scrapped.
Fadnavis questioned the chronology cited by the opposition while challenging the basis of its allegations.
“How can the SIR of 2026 and the person who became Chief Election Commissioner in 2025 affect the 2024 elections?” he asked.
The Election Commission of India’s official records show that Gyanesh Kumar assumed charge as the country’s 26th Chief Election Commissioner on February 19, 2025. However, he had already joined the Election Commission as an Election Commissioner on March 15, 2024, and served during the 2024 Lok Sabha and Maharashtra Assembly elections.
The Maharashtra Assembly election was held on November 20, 2024. Following the election, opposition parties, particularly the Congress, raised questions over changes in voter numbers, deletions from electoral rolls and turnout figures. The Election Commission subsequently rejected several of the allegations and defended its electoral-roll and turnout data.
The SIR is a separate electoral-roll revision exercise involving enumeration and verification of voters. Its implementation in Maharashtra has become a major point of contention, with opposition parties alleging that eligible voters could be excluded and demanding that the exercise be withdrawn. The Election Commission, however, has maintained that electoral-roll revision is intended to ensure accurate and updated voter lists.
The joint protest also marked a significant public appearance by Uddhav and Raj Thackeray, who lead separate political organisations and have had a long-standing political distance. Their decision to campaign together against the Election Commission brought the Shiv Sena (UBT), MNS, Congress and NCP (SP) on the same platform over electoral-roll and election-related concerns.
The developments have intensified the political debate in Maharashtra over electoral transparency, voter-list revisions, the role of the Election Commission and the use of EVMs, with the ruling establishment and opposition parties continuing to present sharply different interpretations of the issues.
