NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar on Sunday backed villagers from Markadwadi in Maharashtra's Solapur district who had questioned the credibility of EVMs and tried to conduct a mock “repoll” using ballot papers.

Pawar visited the village, emerging as an epicentre of protests against Electronic Voting Machines after last month's assembly elections, which saw BJP-led Mahayuti winning 230 out of 288 seats.

"We have collected some data about EVMs. People cast their votes, but in the end, the results were unexpected. You raised awareness about the issue, and the process needs to change," Pawar said.

The BJP hit back at Pawar with the state party president Chandrashekhar Bawankule asking the senior politician to accept the people's mandate gracefully instead of misleading them.

Earlier this week, police registered a case against more than 200 persons from Markadwadi village and nearby areas for allegedly trying to conduct a “re-poll” using ballot papers in an unauthorised manner.

Pawar, accompanied by several NCP (SP) leaders, including Jayant Patil, met villagers and addressed a gathering.

Criticising the police action, Pawar said, "I would like to thank the villagers because you have shown the right direction to the whole country. You were the ones who thought of conducting polls using ballot papers." The former Union minister and a veteran of several electoral contests, Pawar expressed his concerns about the trustworthiness of EVMs.

"How can the police restrict the gathering of villagers in their own village? Collect all such complaints and give them to me. I will take this up with the chief minister, state chief electoral officer, the prime minister, and even the Election Commission of India," he said.

The controversy stems from the Malshiras assembly constituency where NCP (SP)'s Uttam Jankar defeated BJP nominee Ram Satpute by 13,147 votes. Despite Jankar's victory, villagers in Markadwadi claimed discrepancies in the vote count and questioned the EVM results.

The NCP (SP) chief stressed the opposition didn't wish to politicise the issue of this village.

"It is my request to Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis that we do not want to politicise the matter. We want to resolve the doubts of these villagers," he said.

Responding to Pawar's remarks, Bawankule dismissed the allegations and criticised his leadership.

"The people of Markadwadi have rejected Sharad Pawar this time, including the women voters. Instead of spreading illusions and blaming EVMs, focus on introspection," Bawankule said.

He posted voting data from previous elections on X to reject Pawar's claim of fewer seats won by opposition MVA allies despite securing more votes in the assembly polls.

"In 2014, the NCP candidate secured only 533 votes in the Lok Sabha elections from the village, while BJP allies garnered more votes. In 2019, the BJP candidates won substantially in the Lok Sabha elections but lost the assembly polls. By 2024, the trends shifted again, showing no single party's dominance," the BJP leader stated.

Bawankule accused Pawar of politicising the issue, saying voters across Maharashtra trust the Mahayuti.

"Accept the defeat gracefully instead of misleading people," he said.

The ruling BJP-NCP-Shiv Sena alliance won 230 of the 288 seats in the assembly elections held in November.

Pawar, meanwhile, said the Opposition's strength in the assembly may be low but many young MLAs will show their mettle after a couple of sessions.

He had said the comparison between votes polled and seats won by political parties in Maharashtra assembly polls was surprising.

"Congress polled 80 lakh votes and won 16 seats while Eknath Shinde's Shiv Sena bagged 79 lakh votes and emerged victorious on 57 seats," he told reporters on Saturday.

Ajit Pawar's NCP polled 58 lakh votes and won 41 seats, whereas the NCP (SP) secured 72 lakh votes and won only 10 seats, he said.

Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis countered Pawar's claim on Saturday and asked him not to mislead the country.

"You will come out of this if you accept defeat. I expect you to give your colleagues advice on introspection," he had stated on X and posted the vote statistics.

The BJP polled 1,49,13,914 votes and bagged 9 seats in Maharashtra in the Lok Sabha elections, whereas Congress polled 96,41,856 votes and bagged 13 seats. Shiv Sena (UBT) got 73,77,674 votes and won 7 seats while NCP (SP) polled 58,51,166 votes and won 8 constituencies, Fadnavis stated.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Congress polled 87,92,237 votes and won only one seat while the undivided NCP secured 83,87,363 votes but won 4 seats, he added.

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