MNS chief Raj Thackeray backs the Opposition's EVM manipulation claim in state polls

Raj Thackeray’s doubts over EVMs have bolstered the earlier claim of the Opposition party that EVMs are tampered and the entire election process is manipulated to pave the way for ruling party's victory.
MNS Chief Raj Thackeray
MNS Chief Raj Thackeray
Updated on
2 min read

MUMBAI: MNS chief Raj Thackeray on Thursday expressed doubts over the Maharashtra state assembly election results and EVMs, alleging that they continue to be manipulated. He questioned the purpose of contesting elections under such circumstances, suggesting it might be better to stay away from the entire process.

After the Maharashtra state assembly election results, MNS chief Raj Thackeray broke his silence on his party's performance and the overall outcome. He stated that not only were opposition parties surprised by the results, but even the ruling party leaders were shocked and could not believe that they had secured such a significant number of seats in the state polls.

Raj Thackeray’s doubts over EVMs have bolstered the earlier claim of the Opposition party that EVMs are tampered and the entire election process is manipulated to pave the way for ruling party's victory.

“Senior Congress leader Babalsaheb Thorat who used to win from Sangamner with a record margin of 70,000 to 80,000 votes from last eight elections, but this time, he lost by 10,000 votes. Besides, our party candidate Raju Patil used to get a majority of votes in 1500 voters of his village, but this time, he got zero votes. How is it possible the candidate cannot get even a single vote from his own village,” asked Raj Thackeray raising questions over the election process and its credibility.

He said, in state polls, this time BJP got 132 seats against 105 in previous state polls, while in 2014 state polls, the BJP has won 122 seats. “Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar led NCP won only one seat in Lok Sabha elections, but in state polls, surprisingly it won 41 seats. People were giving five to ten seats to NCP, but the result shocked everyone. On the other hand, Sharad Pawar led NCP SP that won eight Lok Sabha seats, but in state polls, it won only 10 seats" he added.

"The Congress party had got the highest number of 13 MPs elected to the Lok Sabha but surprisingly in state polls, it got only 15 seats. What happened, how it happened, is the subject of research. Don't go on about this vote, people have voted for you, it just didn't reach you, the votes cast disappeared somewhere,” Raj Thackeray said adding if you want to contest elections like this, it would be better not to contest them.

“After the state polls election results were out, everything was being interpreted, understanding was starting. Many people met me after the election results were out, on the day of the result, I saw for the first time in Maharashtra that there was silence in Maharashtra"he explained.

"Instead of the kind of celebration that should have been there, the kind of processions and celebrations that were needed, there was only silence throughout the state. How did this happen? The person who is associated with the RSS met me. I saw in their minds too that they did not understand this magnanimity of mandate. He spoke a very nice sentence in front of me, why is there so much silence, brother? Someone must have won, someone must have won, from whom there will be joy. But what kind of a sign is this silence that has spread in Maharashtra? Some things cannot be trusted,” Raj Thackeray has further said.

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