Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar (NCP-SP) Chief Sharad Pawar meets social worker Baba Adhav during the latter’s protest against alleged misuse of EVMs in the recently held Maharashtra Assembly Polls, in Pune on November 30, 2024.
| Photo Credit: ANI
Nationalist Congress Party (NCP-SP) supremo Sharad Pawar said on Saturday that there was growing discontent among the people of Maharashtra over the outcome of the just-concluded Assembly election.
He was speaking in Pune after meeting veteran social activist Baba Adhav, who was on a hunger strike alleging rampant corruption in the Assembly election.
Calling Mr. Adhav’s agitation a “hope” for the common people, Mr. Pawar said: “This Assembly election was marred by the misuse of power and money; there is a need for people to join the cause. Irregularities are common in local elections, but never seen in State elections.”
The Mahayuti coalition comprising the BJP, the Shiv Sena and the NCP had won 235 seats in the 288-member Assembly in the election.
Protest fast ends
Mr. Adhav got support from top leaders across various parties, including Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray and NCP leader Jayant Patil. They met the 95-year-old activist on Saturday and urged him to end the hunger strike.
Mr. Adhav and his subordinates began their fast at Mahatma Phule Wada in Pune on November 28 to protest against the “mockery of the Constitution and democracy” in the election.
Calling Mr. Adhav a guiding light, Mr. Thackeray said: “We need someone to guide us, tell us we are doing the right thing, and your agitation is the sign. But please don’t continue your strike.”
On Saturday evening, Mr. Adhav formally ended his fast by drinking a glass of water offered by Mr. Thackeray.
Voter is king: Ajit Pawar
NCP chief and Baramati MLA Ajit Pawar also met Mr. Adhav and explained to him that the Mahayuti had no control over the Election Commission (EC), and the result was the public’s verdict. Mr. Ajit pointed out that despite losing the Lok Sabha election, none of the Mahayuti parties raised concerns over electronic voting machines (EVM). “In 1999, people voted for Atal Vajpayee in the Lok Sabha election; in the Assembly election, they voted for Vilasrao Deshmukh’s alliance. The public did not listen to anyone, within five months they changed their will, what we can do.”
Responding to Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee president Nana Patole’s query on the sudden increase in voting percentage post 5 p.m, Mr. Ajit said, “People stood in line around 5 p.m. and voted, how is this our fault, we can’t go around telling people when to go and vote. Voter is king, we can’t force them.“
On the Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana, which is said to have helped the Mahayuti win the election, Mr. Ajit said: “I sat with the finance department, I discussed schemes that could benefit poor people. We had a ₹6.5 lakh crore budget, I asked the department to keep ₹75,000 crore aside – ₹45,000 crore for the Ladki Bahin scheme, ₹15,000 crore for electricity waiver and the remaining for other schemes like gas cylinders,” he said.
Published – November 30, 2024 10:35 pm IST
