Morning Pulse: Voter roll window reopens to Oct 26 as Thackerays keep Shivaji Park protest going

A correction to where we left things last night. We reported that Maharashtra's window for voter roll claims and objections had closed with no extension. A little later on Monday evening, the Election Commission of India pushed the deadline to 26 October, ThePrint and the Free Press Journal reported, citing PTI. The final roll will still be published on 16 November. That means there is no final count of claims yet, because the window is open again.

Under the revised schedule, notices and the disposal of claims must be finished by 10 November, both reports said. The state's Chief Electoral Officer urged eligible citizens, especially first-time voters, to use the extra time to add their names, fix errors or file objections. Neither report gave the Commission's reason for the extension, and no fresh tally of forms has been published. The last public figure remains about 6.24 lakh forms up to 4 October.

The extension gives voters more time but squeezes the officials. Two more weeks of filings now have to be checked inside the same window before the final roll. Opposition parties have alleged that eligible voters are being wrongly dropped. The added time answers part of that complaint. It does not answer their main demand, which is a halt to the exercise.

In Mumbai, the protest did not stop after the FIR. Shiv Sena (UBT) and the MNS returned to Shivaji Park on Monday for a second straight day, ThePrint (PTI) and the Free Press Journal reported. Sena (UBT) workers held a silent protest with black ribbons over their mouths. MNS chief Raj Thackeray led a signature campaign seeking the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. Aaditya, Tejas, Raj and Amit Thackeray all signed the registers, the Free Press Journal said. Aaditya Thackeray said the agitation would go on until the CEC steps down.

The tone was different from Sunday. The Free Press Journal reported that no one was detained at Shivaji Park on Monday and that fewer police were deployed. It put the crowd at about 600 people. The MNS calls its drive a statewide campaign. Its demands include cancelling the SIR in Maharashtra and returning to paper ballots. One MNS leader, Mahesh Bhanushali, alleged that Sakinaka police stopped the drive in Chandivali and took down banners. We found no police response to that claim. The bandh threat Aaditya Thackeray made on Sunday was not acted on.

The FIR we flagged last night, against 25 people including Aaditya and Amit Thackeray, has not moved. We found no reports of summons, arrests or court steps. Police have charged them with unlawful assembly and breaking police orders. None of these charges has been tested in court.

Today's main event is in Delhi. The petition filed on Monday by 11 INDIA bloc leaders, including Sanjay Raut and Supriya Sule, does not yet have a listing date of its own. LiveLaw and ANI reported that related SIR matters are listed for hearing on Tuesday. They said the Chief Justice indicated the new plea could be taken up with them or at the earliest opportunity. According to LiveLaw, the plea seeks a suspension of the SIR in every state, booth-wise lists of deleted voters with reasons, and an audit led by a retired Supreme Court judge. India TV reported late on Monday, however, that the registry had flagged 14 defects in the new plea, including a Rs 220 court-fee shortfall, and that it was unlikely to be mentioned on Tuesday. The Election Commission had not filed a reply in the reports we checked. Raut told ANI the court was the opposition's 'ray of hope'.

Two other files were quiet overnight. The Justice Dilip Bhosale panel on the MPSC still has no publicly reported deadline. On the drought, we found no date yet for the central team's report or for the inter-ministerial meeting that Union Home Minister Amit Shah promised would be held soon.