A massive discrepancy has emerged in Mumbai’s draft voter list, on Tuesday, municipal corporation data revealed around 11 lakh duplicate voter entries across the city’s wards.
According to the data, Ward S recorded the highest number of duplicate names at 69,500, making it the most affected administrative zone. Close behind are Ward RS with 62,307 duplicates and Ward RC with 61,709, each carrying a high duplication load. Several other major wards, including N 61,709, PE 50,897, GS 47,953 and KN 40,557, also reported duplication in the tens of thousands.
At the lower end of the scale, Ward HW recorded the least duplication with 27,209 repeated names, still a significant number but notably lower compared to other divisions. Wards T 29,328 and B 8,398 also remained on the lower side of the duplication spectrum.
The administration has admitted that it does not have clear data on exactly how many times each duplicate voter’s name has been repeated. To address the issue, the municipal administration will launch a special drive to remove duplicate names from November 23 to December 5, with assistant commissioners in all 24 wards overseeing the process through their respective election offices.
Both the Thackeray-led Shiv Sena and the MNS have repeatedly alleged serious irregularities in the draft voter list for the 2025 BMC elections. Media outlets and social media users have also raised concerns in recent days.
According to BMC data, Mumbai currently has 10,344,315 registered voters, including 5,516,707 male and 4,826,509 female voters.
The BMC is scheduled to publish the final electoral roll on December 5. On polling day, if a voter with duplicate entries appears at a booth, authorities are expected to obtain an affidavit affirming that the individual has not cast a vote elsewhere.
