Mumbai, Oct. 5 -- Opposition leaders across party lines came together at the 'Virat Garjana Morcha' rally in south Mumbai on Sunday, demanding scrapping of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and a return to ballot paper elections. The rally began from Metro cinema and culminated in front of the BMC headquarters, where Thackeray cousins Uddhav and Raj addressed thousands of protesters carrying the tricolour and placards condemning 'vote chori' and seeking the ouster of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar. Raj Thackeray addressed the crowd first, with cousin Uddhav, Congress leaders Balasaheb Thorat and Vijay Wadettiwar, NCP (SP) state president Shashikant Shinde, senior leader Jayant Patil, MLA Jitendra Awhad and PWP leader Jayant Patil seated on stage. Apart from the removal of Gyanesh Kumar, two key steps are necessary - scrapping the entire SIR process and replacing EVM-based voting with ballot papers, the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief said. "There should be only ballot paper voting. When we take up this issue in Delhi, these two demands should be our focus," he stated. Raj said that he had been raising the issue of 'vote chori' or vote theft via electronic voting machines (EVMs) and tweaking of electoral rolls since 2017-18. He questioned the rise in the BJP's vote share and asked how the party, which had performed poorly during the 2024 Lok Sabha polls in Maharashtra, secured a sweeping victory in the Assembly elections held months later. The 2024 assembly election victory for the BJP-led Mahayuti alliance was the result of 'vote chori' and this was why there was no widespread celebration among allies, he claimed. The MNS leader further said that people were angry not because the BJP and its allies were in power, but because of the manner in which they had secured power and the way they were using that power. "One person, Adani, is getting everything - from forests to project contracts," Raj said. He also accused BJP-led governments of arbitrary conduct and questioned how BJP workers would react if another party came to power and adopted similar policies against them. Speaking after Raj, Uddhav Thackeray alleged that the BJP was incapable of running the government and was using its power to pursue political vendettas. He also criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi, claiming he was the first prime minister against whom people across the country were expressing anger. Uddhav stressed that Sunday's gathering was not part of any particular political party's agenda, but a fight to protect the nation, democracy and the Constitution. "We welcome Make in India. But if a dictator is made in India, we will all unite and end his regime," he said. Referring to Adolf Hitler and Nazi Germany, he said, "Dictators ultimately faced consequences. Hitler, who arbitrarily killed lakhs of Jews and pushed the world into the Second World War, finally had no choice but to commit suicide, while other Nazi leaders faced the Nuremberg trials and were punished for their sins during the Nazi dictatorship." Congress leader Balasaheb Thorat too alleged that the Mahayuti government had come to power through 'vote chori'. Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha and Congress MP Rahul Gandhi had been raising concerns about 'vote chori' by the BJP and the Election Commission for several years, he said. "We have a historical responsibility to save democracy and the Constitution. Let us unite for it," Thorat said. Along similar lines, NCP (SP) state president Shashikant Shinde accused the BJP of running a "dictatorial regime" and said BJP-led regimes would face their first defeat in Maharashtra. He too demanded that elections be conducted using ballot papers instead of EVMs. Following the rally, the Azad Maidan police station registered a first information report (FIR) under sections 223,189, and 190 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, pertaining to disobedience of a lawful order promulgated by a public servant and unlawful assembly. Manish Kalwaniya, deputy commissioner of police (zone 1) said the FIR had been registered "against the organisers for conducting the morcha without permission". State cultural affairs minister and BJP leader Ashish Shelar dismissed the rally and accused opposition leaders of hypocrisy. Speaking to reporters, he said that the opposition had no problem accepting EVMs and the Election Commission so long as they won elections, but began questioning the system when they started facing defeats. Referring to six elections under Gyanesh Kumar as CEC, Shelar said the BJP-led NDA had won in West Bengal, Bihar and Assam, while non-BJP parties had formed governments in Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry. Targeting Uddhav and Raj Thackeray over their opposition to EVMs, he said that the undivided Shiv Sena had won the 2007, 2012 and 2017 Mumbai civic polls using EVMs. Raj Thackeray's party too had recorded its highest tally of assembly seats in 2009 when EVMs were used for voting. Regarding the SIR exercise, Shelar stated that 90% of voter mapping in the state was complete and claimed the process would make electoral rolls "cleaner and more secure"....