Maharashtra without CM for 8 days because poll verdict against wishes of people: Sanjay Raut
Mumbai (PTI): Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut on Saturday alleged that the "unnatural" verdict in Maharashtra, which saw Mahayuti winning big in assembly polls, has delayed the selection of chief minister for the last eight days.
Raut indicated that differences in Mahayuti forced caretaker chief minister Eknath Shinde to go to his village in Satara district amidst the government formation efforts.
Notably, a key Mahayuti meeting scheduled on Friday was put off as Shinde headed to his native village, delaying government formation a week after poll results.
"Eight days have passed since results were declared but Maharashtra has not been able to get a CM. The caretaker CM (Eknath Shinde) has gone to his village. Why is this happening?...The results are unnatural and against the wishes of people. There are agitations all over the state," Raut said.
He alleged that a sudden rise in the number of votes cast in the last hours of polling was the "architect" of the Mahayuti's victory in Maharashtra and Haryana.
"76 lakh votes were polled from 5 pm to 11.30 pm (on November 20 in Maharashtra). What happened to these 76 lakh votes? Similarly, in Haryana, 14 lakh votes rose. This vote rise was the architect of Mahayuti's victory," Raut told reporters.
He said the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi was studying the poll results and "technicalities" behind them.
The Mahayuti won 230 out of 288 seats, including BJP bagging the maximum 132, restricting the tally of MVA, comprising Shiv Sena (UBT), Congress, and NCP (SP), to 46 seats.
Raut clarified that the MVA stands united and rejected reports of any fissures in the opposition in view of the poll drubbing.
"No one in the Maha Vikas Aghadi is talking about contesting polls independently. There is a difference between Lok Sabha and state assembly polls. A right decision will be taken at an appropriate time," he said when asked if Shiv Sena (UBT) will contest the upcoming local bodies' polls solo.
Raut said Congress, NCP (SP) president Sharad Pawar and Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray are engaged in a continuous dialogue.
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Notices issued to Himachal conductor, driver for anti-Rahul Gandhi audio clip playing in govt bus
Shimla, Nov 30: After finding itself in soup over a CID enquiry on "missing samosas", the Himachal Pradesh government is again in a tight spot for issuing notices to a state roadways conductor and driver after an audio clip with defamatory remarks against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was allegedly played in their bus.
A man in his complaint to the Chief Minister's Office said defamatory words were used against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav and other leaders in an audio clip which was played in the Himachal Road Transport Corporation (HRTC) bus plying between Shimla and Sanjauli on November 5.
In a letter to the conductor and driver of the bus on November 25, the HRTC sought explanation from them. The letter went viral on the internet.
Talking to reporters on Friday, HRTC Managing Director Rohan Chand Thakur said a routine complaint was received from a customer after which a fact finding enquiry was initiated. The enquiry was closed as the allegations were found baseless.
However, the wording of the explanation sought could have been better and the officers have been verbally conveyed to improve in the coming times, he added.
The defamatory words were allegedly used in a debate being played in the audio clip.
Reacting sharply to the letter, BJP MLA from Dharamshala, Sudhir Sharma, said the government should appoint marshals to stop audios being played in buses.
"Such decisions of the government are damaging the reputation of the state government as well as the state," he added.
Earlier, the state CID department had ordered an internal enquiry on the samosas which were brought for Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu during a function and by mistake were served to the his security staff. A senior police official had termed the faux pas as an anti-CID and ant-Government act.
