MUMBAI: Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and NCP (SP) president Sharad Pawar were embroiled in a war of words on Sunday over the results of the state assembly elections. Pawar argued that his faction, despite receiving more votes than the Ajit Pawar-led NCP, only secured 10 seats, while Ajit’s NCP won 41 seats. In response, Fadnavis dismissed the comparison of total votes with seat victories, citing data from the recent Lok Sabha elections to make his case.The accusation comes amid the NCP (SP) leader’s visit to Markadwadi village on Sunday, where the veteran leader extended his support to the villagers who raised doubts over the EVMs.Notably, the villagers had tried conducted mock polls using ballot papers to verify their votes with the EVMs. However, local administration and police prohibited the mock polls, citing law and order concerns. More than 200 people from the Markadwadi village and nearby areas were booked for allegedly trying to conduct a re-poll.”We have collected some data about EVMs. People cast their votes, but in the end, the results were unexpected. You raised awareness about the issue, and the process needs to change,” Pawar told the villagers.The BJP hit back at Pawar with the state party president Chandrashekhar Bawankule asking the senior politician to accept the people’s mandate gracefully instead of misleading them. He posted voting data from previous elections on X to reject Pawar’s claim of fewer seats won by opposition MVA allies despite securing more votes in the assembly polls.Pawar also pointed out that developed countries such as the United States and those in Europe conduct elections using ballot papers, while India continues to use EVMs despite the doubts raised about their usage and potential manipulation.The NCP (SP) chief said that in the recent state elections, his party secured a total of 72 lakh votes but only 10 candidates were elected, while Ajit Pawar’s NCP received 58 lakh votes and won 41 seats. He also added that Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT), which garnered 80 lakh votes, only won 20 seats, while the Shiv Sena led by Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde secured 79 lakh votes and won 57 seats.“If you calculate the received votes and the won seats, it’s very confusing and surprising. We are collecting the data and analysing it. Unless we get some concrete analysis and thoroughly examine the data, we will not comment further,” the NCP (SP) leader said.Referenceing the results from the recent assembly elections in four states– Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, Maharashtra, and Haryana–Pawar claimed the BJP allowed the opposition to win in smaller states in order to target the larger ones.“Out of these four states, the BJP won two, while the opposition won two. There must be a strategy and pattern behind these wins. Let the opposition win in smaller states and then target the big states, even though there is significant anti-incumbency against the government,” the NCP (SP) chief said.Meanwhile, CM Devendra Fadnavis countered Pawar’s claim and asked him not to mislead the country. “You will come out of this if you accept defeat. I expect you to give your colleagues advice on introspection,” he had stated on X and posted the vote statistics.“In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, BJP received 1,49,13,914 votes and won nine seats, while Congress received 96,41,856 votes and won 13 seats. Shiv Sena secured 73,77,674 votes and won seven seats, while NCP (SP) received 58,51,166 votes and won eight seats. How do you explain the results in the Lok Sabha elections?” he asked.Fadnavis added, “In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, Congress received 87,92,237 votes and won only one seat, while the united NCP got 83,87,363 votes and still won four seats. The opposition should accept their defeat and come to terms with reality. They should ask their colleagues to introspect and stop misleading people.”The ruling BJP-NCP-Shiv Sena alliance won 230 of the 288 seats in the assembly elections held in November.
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