Assembly elections are to be held in Maharashtra on November 20. In view of this, a round of allegations and counter-allegations is also going on between the ruling party and the opposition. Shiv Sena-UBT leader Sanjay Raut on Sunday alleged that the Election Commission’s decision to set only 48 hours for the formation of a new government in Maharashtra is a ploy of the BJP to ensure that the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) becomes unable to stake claim to form the government.
Let us tell you that the term of the current Maharashtra Legislative Assembly is ending on November 26. Voting will be held in the state on November 20 and the results will be declared on November 23. Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Raut alleged in a conversation with the media, “Amit Shah as well as BJP have accepted that the party will not win the Maharashtra Assembly elections. It seems that the strategy is to give the Maha Vikas Aghadi time to discuss and decide on forming the government. If the MVA components fail to stake a claim, the Governor will recommend President’s rule for six months.”
“There will be only 48 hours to form the government”
He claimed that the BJP was taking this step to prevent the MVA from coming back to power. “Moreover, the Election Commission of India has fixed the election schedule in such a way that it effectively limits the MVA’s chance of forming the government,” he said. The Shiv Sena-UBT leader also said that the counting of votes will take place on November 23, which means the MVA constituents – Shiv Sena (UBT), Congress, Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar), and other smaller parties – will have only 48 hours to form the government. “This is not right,” he said.
Accusations leveled against EC and Eknath Shinde.
“This move of the EC is akin to that of a BJP spokesperson. The EC supports EVMs but remains silent when we speak about the alleged tampering of these machines in the Haryana elections. The EC did not take any action on complaints of misuse of money during the Lok Sabha elections,” Raut alleged. Sanjay Raut claimed that Chief Minister Eknath Shinde decided to distribute Rs 15 crore in around 200 assembly constituencies just before the announcement of state elections and it was government money.