Election Announcement Was Delayed So That Govt Can Distribute Money: Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut

He accused the ruling coalition of allocating Rs 15 core to each candidate. Blamed the central poll body for turning a blind eye to it.

Mumbai/New Delhi: Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut alleged that the announcement of the Maharashtra assembly elections was purportedly delayed to allow the state government to distribute money, as the Model Code of Conduct that comes into effect immediately after the election dates are announced would have restrained such activities. The Election Commission of India (ECI) will announce the dates of assembly elections in Maharashtra and Jharkhand on Tuesday.

"We too have been waiting for the announcement of election dates for many days. Elections are being held in important states like Maharashtra. These elections should be conducted fairly by the Central Election Commission. We should not succumb to anyone's pressure. We will work to harass and harass the opponents for no reason. Don't," Raut said.

"The election dates are going to be announced. The code of conduct will come into effect. Therefore, we are getting information that the ruling party has allocated ten to fifteen crore rupees to each candidate in some constituencies. Because the money cannot be distributed after the code of conduct is enforced. This money has already been distributed. I will inform the Election Commission about this," he added.

Taking a jibe at the ECI the MP said, "Actually, the money should be distributed first. After that, the election dates will be announced. This is not the role of the Election Commission, is it? We doubt our minds. We have a modest expectation that the commission should conduct the elections fairly".

Levelling serious allegations on the central poll body Raut said, "Amol Kirtikar was defeated in the Lok Sabha elections by only 48 votes. The ECI helped the ruling party in this defeat. We gave the commission many proofs of money distribution. The Chief Minister went to Nashik with bags of money. I gave the footage of this. But nothing happened on it. Money was distributed in Uttar Pradesh. But the Election Commission did not take any action on this".

"Currently, PM Narendra Modi is on foreign tours. So they have no business. They have ample time to pay attention to Maharashtra. I don't think law and order problems will arise here. Due to this, elections will be held in one phase in Maharashtra," Raut said.

Asked about the confusion over postal voting, he said, "BJP has won in many places only because of postal voting. The same pattern has been seen in Haryana where there seems to be a small defeat, the result of the election is what we want based on postal votes. The dates of the elections have been delayed. The dates of the elections will be announced only because of the code of conduct," Raut said.

On the Governor-appointed MLAs' oath-taking, Raut said, "This is an extra-constitutional government. The election dates are going to be announced today. The code of conduct will be enforced from this afternoon. Before that, the governor-appointed members will be sworn in. This is being done with the help of the central government. We did not decide on the Mahavikas Aghadi government. How can the Governor give the oath in a hurry? Acting against the opposition. The government is working unconstitutionally hand in gloves with the governor".

He also said it is necessary to declare the Chief Ministerial face before the elections to maintain unity and unanimity in the Mahavikas Aghadi in the assembly elections and to exude confidence.

"We were in alliance with the BJP for 25 years. But the experience was bitter. Our formula was that whoever had the most number of MLAs would become the Chief Minister. But to prevent our MLAs from being elected, the BJP overthrew them. That's why many of our MLAs could not be elected. But there is coordination among Congress, Nationalist Congress and Shiv Sena (UBT)".