Awhad calls Maharashtra results ‘conspiracy’ to politically harm Pawar and Thackeray

Mumbai, Nov 28 (PTI) NCP (SP) leader Jitendra Awhad on Thursday described the Maharashtra assembly poll results as a well-planned “conspiracy” by the BJP to politically harm his party chief Sharad Pawar and Shiv Sena (UBT) head Uddhav Thackeray.

Addressing a press conference, Awhad, who retained his Mumbra-Kalwa seat in Thane, claimed that the BJP wanted to cause distress to Pawar in his old age. Pawar will turn 84 next month.

The BJP also wanted to push Thackeray to the political fringes, he claimed.

“The results are a well-planned conspiracy to politically harm Pawar and Thackeray,” he said.

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 MVA partners NCP(SP), Congress and Sena (UBT) got 10, 16 and 20 seats, respectively.

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.

According to the 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, 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.