In Mira‑Bhayandar, following SIR, bogus voters claim 51% to 55%; Pratap Sarnaik presented the assembly and booth‑wise breakdown.

Meerabhayandar, 31 August (City News Mumbai)

Cabinet Minister Pratap Sarnaik has claimed that a large number of alleged bogus voters were found in the Meerabhayandar assembly constituencies in the SIR voter list. According to the minister, about 55 % of voters in Assembly Constituency 145 and about 51 % in Assembly Constituency 146 were found to be bogus.

After the Election Commission published the SIR list yesterday, Minister Pratap Sarnaik held a press conference late in the evening and presented constituency‑wise and booth‑wise figures to the media. He claimed that the voter‑list audit uncovered a large number of names that raise questions.

Minister Sarnaik also raised serious questions about the Meerabhayandar municipal election, alleging that significant rigging took place. He said that this was the reason Shiv Sena secured fewer seats than expected.

If such a large number of alleged bogus voters were present in the city’s total electorate, questions have now arisen at both political and social levels about how fair the assembly and municipal elections were.

Meanwhile, the Congress party had repeatedly raised the issue of bogus voters before the municipal elections. Congress leaders reportedly presented examples of double voting by the same person and voters registered at incorrect addresses to the media. Subsequently, it emerged that the Election Commission had removed some names from the voter list ranging from the mayor to councilors.

The claim that nearly 5.5 lakh suspicious/bogus voters were found across the entire Meerabhayandar city under the SIR has stirred up political circles. Discussions have begun about how much impact such a large number of voters being removed or deemed suspicious could have had on the election results.

However, it has not yet been clarified which political party these alleged bogus voters supported. Since the SIR list came out, the question has also become a topic of discussion about which party benefited politically from these voters.

Following the claim of widespread bogus voters in Meerabhayandar, doubts have also arisen regarding the fairness of the Lok Sabha, assembly, and municipal elections.