Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has raised allegations of vote theft in the recent elections. In the meantime, two prominent parties within the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) have made significant claims. Sharad Pawar of the NCP (Sharad Pawar) alleged that before the November 2024 assembly elections, the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) was contacted by two individuals who claimed they could help the alliance win 160 seats.
Following this, Shiv Sena (UBT) has also made a similar claim. On Sunday, Shiv Sena alleged that the same two individuals had offered to ensure the party’s victory in 60-65 tough seats by managing Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs).
Shiv Sena (Uddhav Thackeray faction) leader Raut said on Sunday, “I was present at the meeting where Uddhav Thackeray told them that he believes in the democratic system and rejected their proposal.” Both the NCP (Sharad Pawar) and Shiv Sena (UBT) are part of the MVA along with the Congress and other smaller parties. This alliance performed well in the Lok Sabha elections held in June 2024, winning 30 out of 48 seats in Maharashtra. However, the party faced a setback in the assembly elections held six months later, winning only 50 out of 288 seats.
Sharad Pawar stated on Saturday that before the assembly elections, two individuals contacted him and guaranteed the MVA’s victory on 160 out of 288 seats through ‘EVM management.’ Sharad Pawar further said, “The MVA rejected the proposal because we wanted to work with fairness.” He did not name the two individuals nor revealed their organizational affiliations. On Sunday, Raut also stated that Thackeray rejected the proposal from the same two individuals because, considering the state’s atmosphere, he was fully confident of the MVA’s victory.
Shiv Sena (UBT) MP said, “We performed well in the Lok Sabha elections and were expecting the same results in the state elections.” When Thackeray and other Shiv Sena (UBT) leaders rejected the proposal to win 60-65 seats through ‘EVM management,’ the two told them that the ruling Mahayuti alliance planned to manipulate EVMs and voter lists to ensure the MVA’s defeat in the election.
However, regarding Sharad Pawar’s major claim, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis responded by saying that this seems to be a result of a meeting with Rahul Gandhi.