28 November,2024 10:18 PM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondent
Jitendra Awhad. File Pic
The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP SP) leader Jitendra Awhad on Thursday described the Maharashtra Assembly election 2024 results as a well-planned 'conspiracy' by the BJP to politically harm his party chief Sharad Pawar and Shiv Sena (UBT) head Uddhav Thackeray, reported the PTI.
Addressing a press conference, Jitendra Awhad, who retained his Mumbra-Kalwa seat in Thane district of Maharashtra, claimed that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) wanted to cause distress to Sharad Pawar in his old age.
Sharad Pawar will turn 84 next month.
The BJP also wanted to push Uddhav Thackeray to the political fringes, he claimed, according to the PTI.
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"The Maharashtra poll results are a well-planned conspiracy to politically harm Sharad Pawar and Uddhav Thackeray," he said.
The Mahayuti, comprising of the BJP and its allies Ajit Pawar-led NCP and Shiv Sena of Eknath Shinde swept the polls, winning 230 of the 288 seats in Maharashtra.
By contrast, the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) partners NCP (SP), Congress and Sena (UBT) got 10, 16 and 20 seats, respectively.
Jitendra Awhad also raised questions over voter turnout figures in the November 20 elections. The polling percentage jumped by 7.83 per cent after 5 pm, when voting officially ended, he claimed, as per the PTI.
According to the Election Commission of India (ECI), the final turnout in Maharashtra polls was 66.05 per cent as per EVM votes, up from 61.1 per cent in 2019.
In Harayana elections, too, the rise in turnout figures after 5 pm was 6.73 per cent, Jitendta Awhad claimed. There, the BJP beat exit poll predictions to bag 48 of the 90 seats in Haryana, while the Congress ended with 37 seats.
However, in Jharkhand where the opposition INDIA bloc won, the turnout percentage rose by 1.79 points and 0.86 points in the first and second phases, respectively, after 5 pm, said the NCP (SP) leader.
According to Awhad, polling figure usually increases by about 1.5 per cent after 5 pm in Maharashtra. He wondered why the Election Commission of India has not yet explained the sharp rise this time.
Earlier, Congress state chief Nana Patole also raised a similar question and asked the ECI to clarify the huge increase in polling percentage after 5 pm.
(with PTI inputs)
