News Mania Desk / Piyal Chatterjee / 30th November 2024
Nana Patole, president of the Maharashtra Congress, alleged on Saturday that the assembly election results demonstrate a lack of openness and that the administration and the Election Commission must address public concerns about the electoral process. He described the Maharashtra election results as a “murder of democracy”.
In a post on X, the Congress politician stated that he spoke with social activist Baba Adhav, who has been protesting in Pune over the alleged misuse of electronic voting machines (EVMs) in the recent Maharashtra elections. Adhav, who is in his 90s, launched his three-day protest on Thursday at Phule Wada, social reformer Jyotiba Phule’s home in the city. “The Maharashtra assembly election results lack transparency. Our position is that this verdict is a murder of democracy. Patole stated on social media that it is the obligation of the Election Commission and the administration to answer people’s misgivings about the fairness of the polling process.
“Senior social activist Dr Baba Adhav has been protesting against this at Mahatma Phule Wada in Pune. Called Dr Adhav and expressed solidarity with him in his agitation and assured that I was with him to save democracy,” he added.
In the November 20 assembly elections, the incumbent Mahayuti party won a landslide victory and retained control in the state, winning 230 of the 288 assembly seats. After recovering from its Lok Sabha election losses, the BJP emerged as the single largest party, with 132 seats, the Shiv Sena 57, and the NCP 41 seats. In the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), the Shiv Sena (UBT) won 20 seats, the Congress 16 seats, and the NCP (SP) candidates got 10. Following the results, opposition parties claimed that the ruling parties manipulated EVMs to win the election.
