Buldhana (Maharashtra) [India], August 9 : Maharashtra Minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule on Saturday hit out at Sharad Pawar over his claims of two people approaching him ahead of the Maharashtra Assembly elections and guaranteeing 160 out of 288 seats, stating that such "small statements" were made by Pawar because no one was ready to stay in his party.
Bawankule also raised questions on why the statement was not made before the Lok Sabha elections, also questioning why Pawar had not lodged a police complaint on the same day.
"After you lost the elections, no one is ready to stay in your party, the entire leadership is getting disheartened, no one is ready to accept your leadership, that is why you have started making such small statements. Sharad Pawar is saying this today, why did he not say it then, why did he not say it before the Lok Sabha elections, why did he not lodge a complaint at the police station on the same day when two people came to him..." Bawankule said while talking to reporters here.
Earlier in the day, amid the allegations of fraud by the Election Commission in the voter lists, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP)-SCP chief Sharad Pawar said two people had approached him ahead of the Maharashtra Assembly elections 2024, claiming they could guarantee 160 out of 288 seats.
Speaking to the media, Pawar said that he arranged a meeting of these people with Rahul Gandhi, but ultimately both of them decided to turn down the offer, saying, "This is not our path."
"I remember that before the Maharashtra Assembly elections were announced, two people came to meet me in Delhi...They told me that out of 288 seats in Maharashtra, we guarantee you 160 seats. I was surprised, to be honest, I had no doubts about the Election Commission," Pawar said here.
"After that, I arranged a meeting with those people and Rahul Gandhi. Whatever they wanted to say, they said in front of Rahul Gandhi. But Rahul Gandhi and I were of the opinion that we should not pay attention to this; this is not our path," he added.
The allegations, raised nine months after the Assembly elections results were announced, come amid Congress MP Rahul Gandhi alleging "vote chori" (vote theft) across the country, with the Election Commission of India (ECI) 'colluding' with the Bharatiya Janata Party.
Citing internal analysis, Gandhi said the Congress expected to win 16 seats in Karnataka but ended up with only nine. He said the Congress investigated seven unexpected losses, zeroing in on Mahadevapura, where he alleged vote theft involving 100,250 votes.
Presenting Congress's research on voting in the Mahadevapura Assembly in Karnataka, Rahul Gandhi alleged "vote chori" (vote theft) of 100,250 votes.
"Our internal polling told us we would win 16 seats in Karnataka; we won nine. We then focused on seven unexpected losses. We focused on Mahadevapur... All data is 2024 data from the Election Commission; the total votes polled in the Lok Sabha were 6.26 lakhs. The BJP won with 658,915, securing a margin of 32,707. But then we look at Mahadevapura, where Congress polls 115,586 and BJP polls 229,632. Congress wins all Vidhan Sabhas but this one," the Congress leader said.
"We found 100,250 votes stolen in five different ways. Duplicate voters, fake and invalid addresses, and bulk voters in a single address, in a building with 50-60 people living. But when we go there, there is no record of those people living there. One family living in that house," he said.