‘Will Launch Surgical Strikes’: Aaditya Thackeray Vows Rahul Gandhi-Style ‘Expose’ On Poll Body | Politics News

Thackeray compared the costs, pointing out that a 5-kilometre journey on a BEST bus costs just Rs 5, while the same ride on a bike taxi would cost three times more. File pic/PTI

Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray on Thursday asserted a Rahul Gandhi-like “expose” to reveal the chinks in the armour of the Election Commission, saying that he will soon expose alleged irregularities in electoral rolls during the 2024 Maharashtra assembly polls.

While speaking at the India Today Conclave, the former Maharashtra Minister said that the Shiv Sena (UBT) is preparing to reveal issues that show how election processes were mismanaged. When asked about the timing of this planned exposé, Aaditya said, “We can’t reveal the timings of the surgical strikes.”

He claimed that just before the assembly polls, the party had written to the Election Commission about the sudden spike in the number of voters, missing names of voters and mismanagement at the booths.

“Our party has found very many chinks in the armour and it will bring them out very soon,” Thackeray said.

“We will have a press conference with the data we are working on right now. We are putting it together,” he added.

When asked if he will hold a press conference similar to the one done by Rahul Gandhi, he said, “Absolutely. We are doing it.”

Thackeray’s remarks came days after Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, in a series of press briefings, accused the poll body of vote theft and protecting those who “destroyed democracy”.

Rahul cited several instances, from voter name deletions in Karnataka to inflated voter turnout in Maharashtra, and has claimed that he still has yet to reveal the “hydrogen bomb,” alleging that Prime Minister Narendra Modi played a role in “vote chori” to secure a win in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

It all started when Rahul Gandhi posted an op-ed titled “Match-Fixing Maharashtra” in a national daily in July, giving a step-by-step account of how he believes the Assembly election results were rigged, calling it “How to steal an election?”

The ECI, however, dubbed the allegations as “incorrect and baseless” and said, “No deletion of any vote can be done online by any member of the public, as misconceived by Gandhi.”

(With inputs from PTI)