Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar has accused unnamed individuals of offering a “guarantee” of 160 seats to the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi ahead of the Maharashtra Assembly elections, a figure well beyond the majority mark of 145 in the 288-member House.
The former Maharashtra Chief Minister revealed that he referred these persons to Rahul Gandhi, who rejected the offer, urging that the matter should be taken directly to the electorate.
This marks a rare public challenge from Pawar to the Election Commission of India, which he had previously refrained from questioning. Reacting swiftly, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis questioned the timing of these revelations.
“Why did Pawar remember this after meeting Rahul Gandhi? For many years, even though Rahul spoke of EVMs, Pawar said it was wrong to raise such doubts. This change is the impact of their meeting,” Fadnavis said.
The Bharatiya Janata Party has also insisted that if the offer was genuine, Pawar should have reported it to the authorities at the time, accusing him of political opportunism.
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Pawar’s comments came during Maharashtra Congress’ event marking the 83rd anniversary of the Quit India Movement, featuring a padyatra from the Tilak statue to August Kranti Maidan in Mumbai. The march was led by state Congress president Harshwardhan Sapkal and Mahatma Gandhi’s great-grandson, Tushar Gandhi, later joined by Mumbai Congress chief Varsha Gaikwad.
The event took on a political tone, with Sapkal likening the BJP’s governance to colonial rule and invoking Gandhi’s “Do or Die” call: “Just as Gandhi told the British to quit India, today we must tell the BJP to quit its dictatorial ways.”
Gaikwad questioned the Chief Minister’s frequent comments on behalf of the Election Commission.
Defending the electoral process, Fadnavis asserted that India’s elections are “free and fair” and accused the opposition of avoiding formal complaints to the ECI despite making public allegations.
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