Saturday, 21 December 2024
Saturday, 21 December 2024
The Opposition in Maharashtra on Saturday continued its tirade against what it called misuse of electronic voting machines in the Assembly elections even as one coalition partner said it would quit the Maha Vikas Aghadi.
The SP announced on Saturday that it would walk out of the Opposition MVA after Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray's close aide hailed the demolition of Babri Masjid in a post.
Aaditya Thackeray, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader and MLA from South Mumbai’s Worli, demanded mock polls across Maharashtra with ballot papers and at least 46 of the MLAs belonging to the MVA refused to take the oath.
Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis took oath for this third term on Thursday along with his two deputies, former chief minister Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar.
“The MVA’s elected candidates did not take oath today in the assembly. This is our protests against the murder of democracy at the hands of the Election Commission and Government of India,” the Thackeray family scion wrote on his X (formerly Twitter) handle on Saturday.
“We will fight for our democratic rights. We want to know the truth,” Aaditya , the son of the former chief minister Uddhav Thackeray demanded.
He added: “We are the elected ones, and still will voice the doubts of the people about EVMs.This mandate is that of the election commission and the EVMs, not that of Maharashtra. Let mock polls happen across Maharashtra, on ballot paper!”
The young MLA and former minister in the MVA government referred to the village of Markadwadi in Solapur district, where residents were placed under curfew for their decision to hold elections on paper as they firmly believe the BJP nominee from the seat Malshiras, of which Markadwadi is a part, could not have bagged the number of votes that he did.
The Telegraph Online had reported on the villagers’ decision to go ahead with the polling on December 3, which eventually did not take place.
“Markadwadi had planned for a mock poll by means of paper ballot, only to reassure themselves about the voting pattern. The administration imposed a curfew against those fighting for democracy,” wrote Aaditya. “Even though, not much would have changed in terms of government formation officially, the truth would have come to light. Yet, citizens of Markadwadi, in our democratic country were under a siege.”
He pointed out that some villagers were arrested for the decision to have an election with paper.
The Article 324 of the Constitution of India grants only the Election Commission of India the power to hold and conduct polls in the country.
“This is a mockery of democracy, and it is apparent that the government is scared of democracy- by fair means. They use the election commission to prevent the truth from coming out to the world,” Thackeray junior wrote.
Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole told the media that the people of Maharashtra are convinced this is not the government they voted for.
“The post-poll situation is such in Maharashtra that people do not feel they voted for his government. What happened in Markadwadi is what the people elsewhere in the state feel. If the state government and the Election Commission are against the mock polling exercise it is because this government was formed with deception. This proves the votes were stolen,” Patole said.
Samajwadi Party to quit MVA over Babri Masjid stance
The Samajwadi Party, which has two MLAs in Maharashtra, on Saturday said it would quit the MVA.
"An advertisement was given by Shiv Sena (UBT) in a newspaper congratulating those who demolished Babri masjid. His [Uddhav Thackeray] aide has also posted on X hailing the demolition of the mosque," Maharashtra SP unit chief Abu Azmi said, per PTI.
"We are quitting the MVA. I am speaking to (Samajwadi Party president) Akhilesh Singh Yadav," Azmi told PTI.
The SP's move comes in response to Sena (UBT) MLC Milind Narvekar's post on Babri masjid demolition.
Narvekar posted a photo of the demolition of the mosque accompanied by Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray's quote: "I am proud of those who did this".
The Shiv Sena (UBT) secretary also posted images of Uddhav Thackeray, Aaditya Thackeray and himself in the post.
"If anyone in the MVA speaks such language, what is the difference between the BJP and them? Why should we stay with them?" Azmi asked.
In the elections to the 288-member Maharashtra assembly, the BJP-led Mahayuti swept the polls winning 230 of the seats, a complete reversal from the Lok Sabha polls held earlier this year when the Congress and the factions of the Sena and NCP led by their leaders Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar had won 30 of the 48 seats, giving a boost to the Opposition.
Pro-tem Speaker Kalidas Kolambakar, who was appointed by governor C.P. Radhakrishnan, on Friday administered oath to the elected MLAs on Saturday as part of a three-day special session.
(with inputs from PTI)
