Saralnama
Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray accused political parties of vote theft over the past decade without naming any party. Speaking ahead of municipal elections, he said he has raised concerns about vote manipulation since 2016 and urged his party workers to carefully scrutinize voter lists. Thackeray referenced allegations by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and BJP's Anurag Thakur regarding voter list fraud and criticized the Election Commission of India (ECI) for not investigating these claims, suggesting the ECI fears exposure of vote theft spanning 10 years. He stated that his candidates lost not due to lack of votes but because votes did not reach them. Thackeray also mentioned meeting opposition leaders like Sharad Pawar, Sonia Gandhi, and Mamata Banerjee on this issue and had proposed election boycotts in 2017. His remarks imply criticism of the ruling party without explicitly naming it.[1][2][3] (Updated 24 Aug 2025, 11:50 IST; source: link)