Maharashtra Congress chief Patole meets Kharge, dismisses resignation talk as 'rumours'
New Delhi, Nov 25: Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole on Monday dismissed as "rumours" talk of his resignation following the assembly polls debacle and stressed on "collective accountability" for the defeat.
Patole made the remarks after meeting Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge during which he conveyed that the result had not reflected the sentiments of the people of Maharashtra.
"Mallikarjun Kharge, Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi and other national and state leaders were leading Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) from the forefront during the assembly polls. So, we were sure that the trends were in favour of Maha Vikas Aghadi, even the citizens believed that," the Maharashtra Congress chief said.
"If I talk about Nanded, the Lok Sabha bypolls and assembly elections were held on the same day. In Lok Sabha bypolls, our candidate was winning in six assembly seats, whereas, in the assembly elections, we are not winning even a single seat," he said, adding that there cannot be such a "huge difference".
This is the sentiment among the people also and they have stated that this government in Maharashtra was not being formed on their votes, he claimed.
"So, I spoke to Mallikarjun Kharge on this," he added.
Asked whether he had offered to resign or the party had asked for his resignation after the Maharashtra assembly polls defeat, Patole said, "These are all rumours and there is no truth in them. There is collective accountability."
Patole also said he will meet Rahul Gandhi in a day or two and discuss all issues.
"Democracy is being finished. We have discussed that... there was no talk of resignation," he said.
The MVA alliance, comprising the Congress, NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) and Shiv Sena (UBT), was restrained to 46 seats by the Mahayuti that reaped a rich harvest of 230 seats in the 288-member House.
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Sanjay Raut demands re-election, alleges irregularities in EVMs during Maharashtra polls
Mumbai, Nov 25: Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut on Monday demanded a re-election in Maharashtra using ballot papers, claiming there were irregularities with the electronic voting machines (EVMs).
Talking to reporters, Raut alleged several complaints about EVMs malfunctioning and questioned the integrity of the recently held elections.
The BJP-led Mahayuti won 230 out of 288 seats in the assembly elections, while the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi managed 46 seats, with Shiv Sena (UBT) winning just 20 out of 95 seats it contested.
"We have received nearly 450 complaints regarding EVMs. Despite raising objections repeatedly, no action has been taken on these issues. How can we say these elections were conducted fairly? Hence, I demand that the results be set aside and elections be held again using ballot papers," Raut said.
Citing some instances, he said a candidate in Nashik reportedly received only four votes despite having 65 votes from his family, while in Dombivli, discrepancies were found in EVM tallies, and election officials refused to acknowledge the objections.
The Sena (UBT) leader also questioned the credibility of the landslide victories of some candidates, saying, "What revolutionary work have they done to receive more than 1.5 lakh votes? Even leaders who recently switched parties have become MLAs. This raises suspicions. For the first time, a senior leader like Sharad Pawar has expressed doubts about EVMs, which cannot be ignored."
Asked about the MVA's poor performance in the elections, Raut rejected the idea of blaming a single individual.
"We fought as a united MVA. Even a leader like Sharad Pawar, who commands immense respect in Maharashtra, faced defeat. This shows that we need to analyse the reasons behind the failure. One of the reasons is EVM irregularities and the misuse of the system, unconstitutional practices, and even judicial decisions left unresolved by Justice Chandrachud," he said.
Raut stressed that though internal differences might have existed within the MVA, the failure was collective.
He also accused the Mahayuti of conducting the elections in an unfair manner.
"I cannot call the elections fair given the numerous reports of discrepancies in EVMs, mismatched numbers, and vote irregularities across the state," Raut said.
