Opposition Blames EVMs, EC for Their Defeat

Mumbai: After the defeat in last year’s Vidhan Sabha elections, all three constituent parties of the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance suffered a humiliating defeat in the municipal council and nagar panchayat elections in Maharashtra. The opposition blamed the EVMs for their humiliating defeat in the local body elections.

While the Mahayuti parties (BJP, Shiv Sena (Shinde) and NCP (Ajit Pawar)) did well in most of the municipal councils in the state, Vidarbha again lent a helping hand to the Congress. Compared to these parties, Shiv Sena UBT and NCP (SP) in the MVA alliance did not conduct these elections in a very prestigious manner. Both sides are well behind.

Maharashtra Congress president Harshwardhan Sapkal claimed that the ruling parties won thanks to the ‘blessing’ of the Election Commission and that the decision did not reflect the mandate of the people.

Sapkal said, “The Election Commission has become a puppet in the hands of the ruling party. The chaotic functioning of the EC and the excessive use of money by the ruling parties were seen in this election. Due to all these, the Congress party could not achieve the expected success.”

“The people are extremely unhappy with the work of the Mahayuti government led by the BJP. Corruption is at its peak and public works are not being carried out. In such a situation, the results do not seem to reflect the will of the people. Democracy and the constitution have clearly been trampled on by intimidation.”

Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut attributed Mahayuti’s victory to tampering with Electronic Voting Machines and said it was a ‘hailstorm’ that the Opposition could not withstand.

“If you see the Vidhan Sabha numbers of the BJP, Shiv Sena and NCP and now in the civic body polls, they are the same. The machines (fixed) used during the Vidhan Sabha are the same. The setting (of the machines) is the same and the (route) of money used (during the polls) is also the same,” he said.

“BJP has set up the machines as in the assembly polls. They should have at least changed the number of seats they won,” Raut added.