Mumbai: Maharashtra deputy chief minister Eknath Shinde on Sunday criticised the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) for questioning the credibility of EVMs after their defeat in the recently concluded state assembly elections. Shinde accused the opposition of misleading the public and failing to accept the people’s mandate, urging them to support the government’s development agenda.
The Mahayuti alliance, comprising the BJP, Shiv Sena, and NCP, secured 230 out of 288 seats in the November 20 election. In contrast, the opposition bloc, including Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT), and NCP (SP), managed to win only 46 seats. The opposition has alleged irregularities in the EVMs and demanded a return to paper ballots.
‘Inconsistency in opposition’s stance’
Speaking to reporters, Shinde dismissed the allegations as baseless and pointed out the inconsistency in the opposition’s stance. “When you win, there is no EVM scam, but the machine becomes bad when you lose. This is not the right approach,” Shinde said. He called on the opposition to accept the public’s decisive mandate and stop undermining the democratic process.
Highlighting previous elections, Shinde noted, “In the Lok Sabha elections, the MVA polled 2.5 crore votes and won 31 seats, while Mahayuti got 2.48 crore votes and won 17 seats. Should we say there was an EVM scam then?” He emphasised that creating confusion about a democratically elected government was detrimental to democracy.
Mandate for development
Shinde attributed the Mahayuti’s success to its developmental work, stating, “People have given us the mandate for our work. Stop crying and accept the development work we have done. Accept the mandate.” He criticised opposition leaders for boycotting the oath-taking ceremony on Saturday in protest against EVMs but then taking their oaths as MLAs the following day. “Does this mean they have abandoned the issue?” he questioned.
Shinde highlighted the significant voter difference in the assembly polls, where Mahayuti received 49.30% of the votes, equating to 3.18 crore votes, while the MVA secured 2.35 crore votes, a gap of over 1 crore votes.
He also pointed out opposition victories in other elections, such as in Jharkhand and bypolls in Nanded (Maharashtra) and Wayanad (Kerala), questioning the consistency of their allegations against EVMs.
Fadnavis urges Pawar to focus on introspection
Shinde’s remarks came a day after NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar called the distribution of votes and seats in the Maharashtra assembly elections “surprising”. Responding to Pawar, chief minister Devendra Fadnavis urged him to stop misleading the public and focus on introspection.
“You will come out of this if you accept defeat. I expect you to give your colleagues advice on introspection,” Fadnavis wrote on X.
Amid allegations and political rhetoric, Shinde assured the public of transparent governance, promising, “There will be no illegal work and no injustice to anyone. The government functions as per the Constitution.”
