Pune: Baba Adhav, the 95-year-old social activist who had begun a three-day hunger strike on November 28 has called off his fast after Nationalist Congress Party (SP) chief Sharad Pawar, NCP (SP) state unit head Jayant Patil, Shiv Sena (UBT) head Uddhav Thackeray and the party’s leader Sanjay Raut met him on November 30 and urged him to end the same.
The veteran social activist Baba Adhav called off his hunger strike against the alleged misuse of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and money power in the recent assembly elections after meeting top leaders of the state on Saturday.
Adhav began his protest at the historic Phule Wada, the residence of social reformer Jyotiba Phule, in the city on Thursday and ended his agitation by accepting a glass of water at Uddhav Thackeray’s hands on Saturday.
He was also visited by Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut, and NCP (SP) leader Rohit Pawar who is also the MLA from Karjat-Jamkhed. Congress leader Prithviraj Chavan met Adhav at his residence on Sunday.
Adhav said, “Huge amount of money was distributed in the recent state polls. Where did this money come from? This is against democracy and I ask the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) to raise the issue and take it to the people.”
Sharad Pawar has alleged that the Maharashtra state Assembly elections in which his party and the entire alliance (Maha Vikas Aghadi) faced a rout, were rigged and the EVMs had been doctored to hand victory to the BJP led Mahayuti alliance.
The Maharashtra Assembly election results were conducted on November 20 and the counting as well as results declaration happened on November 23. The BJP-led Mahayuti alliance stormed back to power with a landslide majority. The BJP won in 132 assembly seats in the 280-member Maharashtra Assembly. Its alliance partner parties — the Shiv Sena, led by Eknath Shinde, and the NCP, led by Ajit Pawar — won 57 and 41 seats, respectively.
“Baba Adhav has taken a lead into this issue and is agitating at Phule Wada. His protest gives hope to the people, but it is not enough. A mass revolt is necessary, as the danger of parliamentary democracy getting destroyed looms,” Pawar said.
Meanwhile, NCP chief Ajit Pawar who is a member of the winning MY alliance agreed that a discussion needs to take place. “I agree that there has to be a discussion over the issue, and if no solution is found, one can go to the courts… Even the Supreme Court recently rejected a plea stating that the petitioners blame EVMs when they face defeat but when they win, they do not level any allegations.”
STORY | Ajit Pawar meets Adhav; defends EVMs
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When Baba Adhav made serious allegations of fraud against the Mahayuti dispensation in the presence of Maharashtra deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar at the Phule Wada in Pune on Saturday, Ajit Dada (as he is popularly called) defended the EVMs. Ajit Pawar requested Dr Baba Adhav to call off his protest against alleged misuse of EVMs, saying that the verdict involves no foul play and therefore should be accepted.
“In the Lok Sabha polls, MVA won 31 seats (out of 48 in Maharashtra) while we got 17 seats. We accepted the people’s mandate. We did not make any allegations about EVMs. In Baramati, my candidate (wife Sunetra Pawar) lost by more than 1.4 lakh votes, while in the assembly election, I won by one lakh votes,” Ajit Pawar reportedly said.
The MVA’s tally stands at Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) – SHSUBT 20, the Indian National Congress – INC at 16, and the Nationalist Congress Party – Sharadchandra Pawar – NCPSP at a poor 10 while the ruling MY alliance walked away with a whopping mandate of 230 of the 288 seats in the state assembly.
Meanwhile, on 26 November, the Supreme Court called out the level of hypocrisy associated with allegations of fraud involving the EVMs. The country’s apex court, while rejecting the plea for reverting to ballots, said ‘EVMs are fine if you win and tampered if you lose’. SC Justice Vikram Nath made this oral remark while dismissing a petition filed by evangelist KA Paul, who sought a judicial order to return to paper ballots.
