Maharashtra civic polls to see 14.71 lakh more electors than Assembly elections

According to data obtained by The Indian Express, during the seven months between November 27, 2024, and June 30, 2025, the total number of electors has risen from 9.70 crore to 9.84 crore.

The data shows a net addition of 18.80 lakh voters, while deletions stand at 4.09 lakh.

Thane tops the list of districts with the highest increase, recording a rise of 2.25 lakh voters (total addition 2.71 lakh and 45,800 deletions).

Thane is followed by Pune with an increase of 1.82 lakh (total addition 2.26 lakh and 43,961 deletions) and Palghar with an increase of 97,100 (total addition 1.08 lakh and 11,016 deletions).

In Mumbai city, the number of electors has increased by 18,741 (total addition 33,201 and 14,460 deletions), while in the Mumbai suburban district, the increase is 95,630 (total addition 1.39 lakh and 44,172 deletions).

Of the total increased number, 1.96 lakh electors have been added due to shifting of residences.

Pune accounts for the highest number of shifted electors at 32,031, followed by Thane (27,386) and Mumbai suburbs (25,831).

The State Election Commission has reiterated that the electoral rolls updated till July 1, 2025, will be used for the upcoming local body polls.

“Earlier, it was discussed to use the voter list used for the assembly polls. The decision was changed and the date was fixed as July 1. The process of adding voters is a continuous one and it never stops. As of now, the commission has decided to use July 1 as the deadline,” said a senior official from the state government.

On the increase in the number of voters, Maharashtra Congress chief Harshvardhan Sapkal said: “There is need to study the increase of voters from Assembly polls till July 1 in detail. We will surely look into it.”

Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi and Maharashtra’s opposition parties have repeatedly raised questions about the increase of 40.81 lakh electors during the six months from the 2024 Lok Sabha polls to the Maharashtra Assembly polls in November that year.

The Opposition has termed it an “unnatural” growth and claims it affected the election outcome, in which BJP-led Mahayuti came back to power in the state.

The Election Commission of India has already stated that draft electoral rolls are available for scrutiny by every political party, and any objections regarding the increase should have been raised earlier.