Raj Thackeray, Sanjay Raut accuses Maha Election Commission for facilitating cash distribution

Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) founder Raj Thackeray and Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena Rajya Sabha MP and chief spokesperson Sanjay Raut lashed out at the Maharashtra State Election Commission on Wednesday for allegedly facilitating distribution of cash to voters by the ruling BJP and Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena alliance.

Elections for 29 municipal corporations in Maharashtra, including the prestigious as well as cash-rich Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), will take place on Thursday, January 15, 2026, with results to be declared on Friday, January 16, 2026. Polling is scheduled to begin from 7:30 am to 5:30 pm across 2,869 seats in 893 wards. A total of 3.48 crore voters are eligible to cast their ballots.

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Earlier on Wednesday, Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray visited Raj Thackeray’s ‘Shivtirth’ residence at Dadar West, along with his family, after which the MNS chief interacted with reporters.

“Campaigning ended at 5 pm yesterday (Tuesday). Until now, the practice was that after the election campaign ends, there will be no campaigning the next day after which voting takes place the next day. But yesterday, the Election Commission issued a note stating that you can meet voters till 5 pm even on the day before polling. How and where did this practice come from? Why was this practice absent for the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections? Why did it come only today? Candidates can go and meet voters, but they can’t distribute leaflets, says the Election Commission. So, can candidates distribute money to voters? Why was this permission given in the first place,” Raj Thackeray asked while speaking to media persons.

“Also, the Election Commission has come up with a new machine called the Printing Auxiliary Display Unit (PADU) which is going to be connected to EVMs. No political party was informed about this PADU. This machine has not been shown to us. We have written a letter to the Election Commission in the name of Uddhav Thackeray about this matter. Why has this machine not been shown to the political parties? What is this machine? They do not even want to inform political parties about it. Election Commissioner Dinesh Waghmare is not ready to answer any questions,” he lamented.

Significantly, on Tuesday, the Mumbai unit of the Aam Aadmi Party too had criticised the Maharashtra State Election Commission’s move to deploy PADU devices attached to electronic voting machines (EVMs).

However, on Wednesday, Municipal Commissioner Bhushan Gagrani told media persons that PADU machines will not be used in Mumbai throughout the elections and will be used “only if the situation arises”. Gagrani said that the PADU machines which will be attached to EVMs, will function as backups, if the display unit of the EVMs fails, adding that the counting process will be carried out using PADU machines, since they are also “control units”.

According to Gagarani, PADU devices will display information of the EVM on a larger display. The devices are manufactured by BHEL and about 140 PADU machines have been for the Mumbai municipal corporation elections, Gagarani said.

Later on Wednesday, Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena Rajya Sabha MP and chief Sena spokesperson Sanjay Raut accused the Maharashtra State Election Commission of allowing political parties to go campaigning door-to-door, without handing out leaflets, even after election campaigning officially ended on Tuesday.

“The Election Commission has given an open license to the ruling BJP and Shinde-led Sena to distribute cash to voters. That is why it has permitted door-to-door campaigning, despite the Model Code of Conduct being in effect and official campaigning which ended yesterday (Tuesday). Though campaigning officially ended yesterday, suddenly, the Maharashtra State Election Commission said that even after campaigning has ended, you can still go door-to-door and campaign,” Sanjay Raut told media persons.

“What kind of rule is this? This directly gives the BJP, Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar permission and a licence to distribute money openly during door-to-door campaigns. They are the only political parties who have lots of money. The BJP has never fought elections in a fair manner. In West Bengal, the Hindu-Muslim narrative has failed. So now, it’s no longer about Hindu versus Muslim. Now it’s about the Enforcement Directorate versus Trinamool Congress. But despite this, Mamata Didi will win Bengal with a massive majority” Sanjay Raut said.