LoP Rahul Gandhi Likely To Join Anti-EVM Protest In Maharashtra On Dec 9

The MVA comprising Congress, Shiv Sena UBT and NCP-SP, has accused the ruling Mahayuti of ‘stealing’ the people’s mandate through large-scale ‘tampering’ of the EVMs.

New Delhi: The Leader of the Opposition, Rahul Gandhi, is likely to join the Maha Vikas Aghadi protest against the EVMs at Maharashtra’s Markadwadi village on December 9 to make a point. Over the past few days, the MVA comprising Congress, Shiv Sena UBT and NCP-SP, has accused the ruling Mahayuti of ‘stealing’ the people’s mandate through large-scale ‘tampering’ of the EVMs.

The MVA, which was confident of winning over 150 out of 288 seats, was reduced to just 56 while the ruling BJP-NCP-Shiv Sena Mahayuti won 230 seats. Following the poll loss, a stunned Congress rejected the result and announced it would stage a nationwide movement against the EVMs.

The Markadwadi village in Malshiras assembly seat in Solapur district has come into the spotlight as the local NCP-SP MLA Uttamrao Jankar, who won the elections through EVMs, has offered to resign and recontest on ballot papers to prove a point.

The locals in the area tried to conduct a mock poll in one of the booths using only ballot papers but were not allowed by the authorities.

“The MVA protest against EVMs will be intensified across the state. Our senior leaders have invited Rahul Gandhi to join the protest at Markwadwadi on December 9,” senior Congress leader Charan Singh Sapra told ETV Bharat. Rahul is likely to stage a foot march against the EVMs in the village on Monday where he is likely to be joined by state unit chief Nana Patole and other senior leaders.

“The voters have doubts over the process. They feel they voted for a party, but it did not win and the results do not reflect the true picture. Hence, there is a demand being made across the state that all future local body elections must be held with ballot papers, "Patole told ETV Bharat.

Sena UBT leader Aditya Thackeray had described the result as a mockery of democracy while Sharad Pawar, who attended the protest in Markadwadi on Sunday said the results were against the wishes of the voters.

As a mark of protest against the alleged electoral fraud by the Mahayuti, the MVA MLAs had refused to take oath on Saturday in a symbolic way, but took the oath of office on Sunday to convey their regards for the constitutional system.

Another option being explored by the MVA was to file legal suits by the respective MLAs questioning the election.

“Yes, that is also an option,” said Sapra. One of the key reasons being flagged by the MVA to doubt the assembly result is that the sweep for Mahayuti marked a huge difference over the past four months when the same set of voters had given 30 out of 48 Lok Sabha seats to the MVA.

“The Mahayuti government did not do anything spectacular since the Lok Sabha elections, which could explain this kind of result in their favour. In fact, they suffered from a strong anti-incumbency. The Ladki Bahin women’s allowance scheme has been cited as one of the reasons behind their win but I don’t think one scheme can win elections to any side. The results are totally against the feedback we had from our workers,” AICC secretary in-charge of Maharashtra BM Sandeep told ETV Bharat.