Overview

• On August 12, MNS leaders delivered a memorandum to the State Election Commissioner calling for ballot-paper voting supplemented by voter-verifiable paper audit trails in upcoming local body elections.
• MNS spokesperson Shirish Sawant cited irregularities in the electoral rolls, noting past VVPAT deployment issues as evidence of compromised transparency.
• Party veteran Bala Nandgaonkar warned that democracy faces a threat; he challenged the BJP-led Mahayuti coalition to hold elections on paper if it expects to win regardless of opposition unity.
• Shiv Sena (UBT) has also pressed to revert to paper ballots, pointing to alleged voter-list errors, unaddressed claims of vote theft.
• State election officials remain committed to conducting phased polls after Diwali without VVPATs; they cite resource constraints, leaving the administrative dispute unresolved.