Maharashtra's deleted voters names: parties want repoll, CBI probe

The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) blamed the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party-Shiv Sena for not checking the lists circulated in advance, while they retaliated by alleging it as "conspiracy of the Congress-NCP government with the bureaucracy" to avoid defeat in the elections.

BJP leader and Mumbai North-East candidate Kirit Somaiya lodged a police complaint, alleging "criminal negligence and conspiracy" as over names of over 100,000 voters were missing from his constituency.

Maharashtra Navnirman Sena leader and Mumbai South candidate Bala Nandgaonkar, terming it as a Congress-NCP conspiracy, sought a Central Bureau of Investigation probe into the state election department's lapses to find out who all are behind the conspiracy.

The leaders of 'Grand Alliance' of opposition parties, including Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray, BJP's Gopinath Munde and Republican Party of India-A chief Ramdas Athawale plan to meet Chief Election Commissioner V.S. Sampath to draw his attention to the issue.

Reacting to the EC apology, Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan sympathized with those whose names were deleted and said: "The state government would take up the issue with the Chief Election Commissioner (Sampath)."