Activist Baba Adhav calls off hunger strike in Pune

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.

Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) chief Sharad Pawar, NCP (SP) state unit head Jayant Patil, Shiv Sena (UBT) head Uddhav Thackeray and the party’s leader Sanjay Raut met the activist and urged him to end the hunger strike.

Adhav, 95, began his protest at Phule Wada, the residence of social reformer Jyotiba Phule, in the city on Thursday and ended his agitation by accepting a glass of water from Thackeray’s hands on Saturday.

Adhav said, “Huge amount of money was distributed in the recent state polls. From where did this money come? This is against democracy and I ask the Maha Vikas Agadhi (MVA) to raise the issue and take it to the people.”

Social crusader

Baba Adhav, who works for people in the unorganised sector, has demanded social security for unprotected labourers and medical insurance for them. He started the hamal panchyat for potters to get them minimum wages. He also started the movement ‘Ek Gaav Ek Panvatha’ to get access to water for all people, mainly Dalits. He was elected to Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) in 1963. He contested the election for Member of Parliament through the Samyukta Socialist Party (SSP) led by SM Joshi but was defeated in 1971.

A respected leader among social workers in Maharashtra, the nonagenarian still participates in social activities and agitations related to civic causes in Pune.

EVM politics

Meanwhile, Thackeray claimed that the government formation in Maharashtra was delayed because the ruling Mahayuti parties never thought they will come to power again.

“When the MVA was formed (after the 2019 elections), the President’s rule was imposed. This time no one has staked claim to form the government, yet there is no President’s rule,” said Thackeray, a former chief minister.

“They (Mahayuti allies) never thought they would come to power again, so they had no planning on who will be the CM, the council ministers. This is why government formation is taking time,” Thackeray said.

He also demanded that all Voter-Verified Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) slips should be counted. “Anyone can see that a vote has been cast. But how does one verify how the vote has been registered,” he asked.

Pawar claimed the misuse of power and money to control the poll mechanism in the 2024 assembly elections, which was never before seen in any state or national polls in the past.

He said, “There is a murmur among the people that the recent polls in Maharashtra saw ‘misuse of power’ and ‘floods of money’, which was never seen in the past. Such things are heard of in local-level polls, but taking over the entire election mechanism with the help of money and misuse of power was not seen before. However, we witnessed it in Maharashtra, and people are restless now.”

“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 the parliamentary democracy getting destroyed looms,” Pawar said.

Meanwhile, NCP chief Ajit Pawar and the party leader Chaggan Bhujbal also visited Adhav and defended the EVMs.

“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,” said Ajit.

He, however, 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,” Ajit said.

The Maharashtra Assembly election results were declared on November 23, with BJP-led Mahayuti alliance storming back to power with a landslide majority.

The BJP emerged as the largest party with 132 seats in the 280-member Maharashtra Assembly, while its allies--the Shiv Sena, led by Eknath Shinde, and the NCP, led by Ajit Pawar--won 57 and 41 seats, respectively.

(With agency inputs)