NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar on Saturday alleged the “misuse of power and money” in Maharashtra’s recent state elections, claiming it was the first time such tactics were used on such a large scale in both state and national polls.
Pawar made the remarks during a visit to senior activist Dr Baba Adhav, who is leading a three-day protest in Mumbai against the alleged “misuse of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs)” in the Maharashtra Assembly elections held on November 20. Adhav, in his 90s, began his protest on Thursday at Phule Wada, the residence of social reformer Jyotiba Phule.
The opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) allies — Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT), and NCP (SP) — have raised concerns about alleged EVM manipulation, claiming the polls were rigged. The Mahayuti alliance, comprising Shiv Sena, BJP, and NCP, emerged victorious with 230 seats out of 288 in the Maharashtra Assembly, while the MVA secured only 46 seats.
Pawar, addressing reporters, acknowledged there were “whispers” among the public regarding vote tampering but said he had no proof to substantiate the claims.
He added, “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.”
The NCP leader expressed concern that the integrity of parliamentary democracy is at risk, citing the lack of opportunities for opposition leaders to speak on the matter in Parliament.
“Despite widespread discussion over it (alleged misuse of EVMs) in the country, whenever the opposition tries to raise the issue in the Parliament, they are not allowed to speak. Opposition leaders have been seeking an opportunity to speak on these issues for six days, but their demands have not been accepted even once. It shows they want to attack parliamentary democracy,” he claimed.
While Pawar refrained from accusing the Election Commission directly, he acknowledged that after the Maharashtra polls, he had started to believe that there might be truth to allegations regarding EVM tampering. He said he had received presentations on how votes could be manipulated in EVMs but had not acted on them due to a lack of evidence.
When asked about the demand for a recount by 22 defeated candidates, Pawar expressed skepticism about whether it would yield any meaningful results. He also described allegations by Congress leaders, including Balasaheb Thorat, that 7 percent of votes were cast in the final two hours of voting as “shocking.”
“It is not only Thorat but a lot of people have come up with similar information, and it needs to be taken into account. The Congress held a meeting on the issue, and there was a discussion that the INDIA bloc should take up this issue together. I am sure that by Monday, some decision will be made,” he said.
He stated that although he had previously dismissed claims that 15 percent of votes were pre-set in EVMs, he now believed there might be some truth to them after the events of the past five days.