'Vote-chori row': Arranged 20,000 votes from 'outside' during 2024 polls, says Shiv Sena MLA

Mumbai: In what snowballed into a controversy in Maharashtra, Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena’s MLA Vilas Bhumre said that he had arranged for 20,000 votes from "outside" during the 2024 Vidhan Sabha elections prompting a immediate charge by the Congress, which has been highlighting the issue of ‘vote-chori’ targeting the BJP and the Election Commission.

Bhumre is a first-time MLA from Paithan in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar district, a seat which is father Sandipanrao Bhumre had represented five times before being elected as an MP from Aurangabad in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

“During the Assembly elections, I have brought in nearly 20,000 voters from outside…These voters benefitted me 100 per cent,” the Junior Bhumre said.

This put Shinde, the Deputy Chief Minister and Shiv Sena chief leader, who was presiding over a party event at Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, into an embarrassment.

However, he was quick to add: “Shinde saheb often tells us to focus on voter lists. I brought 20,000 voters back (to Paithan) on the day of polling (from where they have been living after migrating).”

Mumbai Congress president and Mumbai North Central MP Prof Varsha Gaikwad slammed the Shinde Sena after the speech went viral on social media platforms.

“This is open admission of vote-chori by Shinde Sena! MLA Vilas Bhumre openly admits to bringing 20,000 voters from outside his constituency to vote and that helped them win. But on seeing Eknath Shinde's reaction backtracks and says he brought back people who had relocated,” she said.

Prof Gaikwad said that Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi exposed the massive vote-chori by the BJP and now its only ally in Maharashtra is admitting to it. Contrast this with how the Election Commission cited relocation as one of the biggest justifications for SIR in Bihar.