BJP-NCP (Ajit Pawar) criticise Sanjay Raut for questioning people’s mandate in assembly polls

Nashik (Maharashtra) [India] : After Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut raised questions about BJP’s victory in legislative assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra Minister of Relief and Rehabilitation Anil Bhaidas Patil responded on Tuesday, saying that the mandate given by the people should be respected by Raut.

Earlier, on Monday, Raut said that he welcomed the mandate but people still have suspicions in their minds and to remove these suspicions, elections should be held once through the ballot paper. This statement by the Shiv Sena (UBT) leader came after Congress was defeated by BJP in assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, and Rajasthan.

Responding to Raut’s statement, Anil Bhaidas Patil said, “Once someone is defeated, that person should show some respect for the mandate given by the people. Sanjay Raut has no other work. I would like to say that he should go to ground level and see what work has been done by PM.”

Patil, further lashing out at Raut and other opposition parties, said that their complaint is going to continue in every election, that there is a problem in the election process, and that elections should be conducted on ballot paper.

“If he (Sanjay Raut) focuses more on what the public demands are and what people want, then he will stand a better ground in elections,” said Patil.

Earlier Congress’ Digvijay Singh once again questioned the authenticity of EVM’s claiming that they can be hacked.

“Any Machine with a Chip can be hacked. I have opposed voting by EVM since 2003. Can we allow our Indian Democracy to be controlled by Professional Hackers? This is the Fundamental Question which all Political Parties have to address to. Hon ECI and Hon Supreme Court would you please defend our Indian Democracy?” Digvijay Singh claimed.

However, the BJP has hit back at the Congress saying that Congress was only finding excuses for its loss in the Hindi heartland and the same EVM’s had ensured a Congress win in Telangana.

Union Minister Giriraj Singh said, “It is not new. They raise questions (on EVM) only when they lose elections. Why didn’t they raise questions on EVM during the Himachal Pradesh polls or Telangana polls? When they win everything is okay, when they lose they raise questions on EVM…”

In the Assembly elections in four states–Telangana, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Chhattisgarh–the counting of which concluded on December 3, the BJP emerged victorious in majorities of the seats in the three North Indian states.

While in Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, the BJP defeated the incumbent Congress governments, in Madhya Pradesh, it defeated the anti-incumbency in retaining power.

However, in the South Indian state of Telangana, the Congress saw consolation and emerged victorious, dethroning BRS’s decade-old rule.

Despite the perceived anti-incumbency in Madhya Pradesh, the BJP won 163 seats in the state. The Congress won 66 seats in the state.

In Rajasthan, the BJP won 115 seats out of 199, clearly ousting the incumbent Ashok Gehlot government. The Congress won 69 seats.

In the Chhattisgarh election, though the majority of the exit polls predicted that the Congress would retain the government, the results turned out to be otherwise. As per the ECI, the BJP won 54 out of 90 seats. The Congress won 35 seats in the state.

In Telangana, the incumbent BRS was dethroned by Congress. Congress won 64 seats in the 119-member assembly. BRS won 39 seats, and the BJP won 8 seats.