MVA leaders support 95-yr-old activist protesting against Maharashtra results
Mumbai: The MVA leaders on Saturday met and declared support to 95-year-old social activist Dr. Baba Adhav, who is protesting against the alleged irregularities in the Maharashtra Assembly election including EVMs. NCP founder Sharad Pawar, after meeting Mr. Adhav, claimed that earlier he used to disbelieve claims of EVM tampering, but it was his mistake. He also alleged misuse of power and money in the Assembly elections. State Congress chief Nana Patole also spoke to Mr. Adhav over the phone. He alleged that the Congress is not blaming the EVMs, but questioning the fairness of the Election Commission of India.
Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray along with his son Aaditya and Sanjay Raut also met the social activist. After the loss in the Assembly election, MVA partners have alleged that tampering of EVMs was one of the reasons for their defeat.
After meeting the social activist, Mr. Pawar said that the figures of final voters’ turnout gave a shock to the MVA. “Some people had given a presentation in connection with the discrepancies in the EVMs. It was our fault that we did not believe it then, as we thought that the EC would not take such an extreme level wrong stand. But after the poll results, prima-facie it appears there is a substance in the allegations,” he said.
Mr. Thackeray, who met Mr. Adhav separately, said that even the ruling party leader came to meet the activist, which indicates that the ruling parties and the opposition parties did not believe the results of Maharashtra Assembly election. Referring to Ajit Pawar’s meeting with the activist, he said, “In short, neither the victorious people nor defeated people believe in the result of the Assembly election.”
Mr. Thackeray also claimed that the ruling parties were not confident of winning the election as they did not finalise the names of the chief minister and ministers. He appealed to people to take to streets so that “democracy can be saved”.
Mr. Adhav began his three-day protest at Phule Wada, the residence of social reformer Jyotiba Phule, in Pune city on Thursday.
Ajit Pawar, who also met Mr. Adhav, said that the Opposition is now blaming the EVMs because they lost the election. “In the Lok Sabha polls, MVA (Maha Vikas Aghadi) won 31 seats while we got 17 seats. We accepted the people’s mandate and worked hard to gain their trust,” he said.
