Mumbai: As the Maharashtra Congress gears up to hold statewide protests on Thursday, its former state President and senior leader Nana Patole urged President Murmu to order a high-level investigation into the alleged rigging and ‘match-fixing’ in the Maharashtra Assembly elections held last year.
In a letter, Patole has requested the President to constitute a high-level committee to probe the matter impartially.
He has also demanded that the MahaYuti government comprising BJP, Shiv Sena and NCP should be dismissed till the investigation is completed.
“This is necessitated as the present government has come to power by betraying the trust of the people,” he said.
Patole argued that the people of Maharashtra had voted democratically, but the alleged irregularities in the elections have hurt democracy.
He has appealed to the President to ensure that the votes of the people are respected by taking strict action in such cases.
He claimed that there were irregularities in 12,000 polling booths in 82 Assembly constituencies, raising questions over the credibility of votes.
“This is not just a question raised by Leader of Opposition (LoP) Rahul Gandhi, but by crores of voters residing in villages, hamlets, cities and tribal areas. The common man is asking whether the elections were held impartially? Whether there was a misuse of their votes? Whether there was abduction of their votes in the temple of democracy?” he stated in his letter to the President of India.
“There has been rigging and irregularities in the Assembly elections. It is not just an administrative lapse but an attack on the soul of the Constitution of India and the rights of the voters. This is a matter of serious concern and, therefore, it is the need of the hour to demand an impartial, transparent and independent probe,” said Patole.
Patole’s letter comes days after Congress leader and LoP Rahul Gandhi in his write up in the media alleged that the Maharashtra Assembly election held in 2024 was a “match-fixing exercise as the scale of rigging was so desperate that despite all efforts to conceal it, telltale evidence has emerged from official statistics, without reliance on any official source, revealing a step-by-step playbook.”
In his article, LoP Gandhi further claimed that the polling turnout at 5 PM was 58.22 per cent. The final turnout was reported the next morning to be 66.05 per cent, an unprecedented hike of 7.83 per cent equivalent to 76 lakh voters, which he stated was much higher than previous state Assembly elections in Maharashtra.
Further, Rahul Gandhi claimed in his article, “It is not to guess why rigging in Maharashtra in November 2024 took on such desperate proportions. But rigging is like match-fixing, the fixing side might win a game, but irreparable damage is done to institutions and to people’s faith in the result.”
Meanwhile, the Maharashtra Congress has organised statewide protests today against the alleged stealing of votes in the Assembly elections.
The Congress workers would demand a probe into the alleged poll scam. State unit chief Harshwardhan Sapkal will lead the protest in Gadchiroli district.
(IANS)
