MLA Jankar raises questions on Ajit’s victory, EVM usage

PUNE: : Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) MLA Uttam Jankar, representing the Malshiras assembly constituency, has raised doubt over the credibility of the electronic voting machine (EVM), questioning deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar’s victory in the recent state assembly polls. He claimed that the Mahayuti alliance has not achieved majority in Maharashtra and Ajit lost polls from Baramati by around 20,000 votes although EVM changed the results.

Jankar addressed the media after meeting NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar in Baramati on Sunday, asserting that there were irregularities in EVM-based polls. “I plan to draw the attention of Rahul Gandhi, Sharad Pawar, and the Election Commission of India to the issue. The control box of EVMs was tampered with and the voter-verified paper audit trail (VVPAT) slips issued should be handed over to voters, allowing them to personally deposit it into the ballot box.” he said.

Jankar alleged that irregularities were observed in nearly 150 constituencies during the recent elections. He claimed that a detailed investigation would reveal that Ajit had lost the state polls by 20,000 votes.

“Ajit received around 1.80 lakh votes, but actually won only 1.20 lakh while rival candidate Yugendra Pawar got 1.40 lakh votes. However, ‘2:1 formula’ was used through which every second vote of rival candidate went to Ajit,” Jankar said.

According to the poll body, Ajit won the polls by a margin of around 1.02 lakh votes against his nephew and NCP (SP) candidate Yugendra.

On Mahayuti’s performance in the state polls, the MLA alleged that only 12 MLAs from Ajit’s faction were elected, while Eknath Shinde’s faction secured 18 and the BJP won only 77 seats. According to Jankar, the total strength of the alliance comes to 107, which increases to 110 when a few independents are included. He emphasised of having an in-depth study of poll outcome in each state assembly constituency.

The Mahayuti comprises the BJP, Shiv Sena led by chief minister Eknath Shinde, and the Nationalist Congress Party led by deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar. The Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance consists of the Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT) and NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar).