EVM trickery, party’s alliance with EC: Sena ...but

A day after the BJP won the Palghar Lok Sabha bypoll in Maharashtra, its estranged ally Shiv Sena on Friday alleged that the ruling party's “alliance” with the Election Commission, use of police machinery and trickery of ‘trash-like’ EVMs had led to its victory.

The NCP, it said, had defeated the BJP in the BhandaraGondiya Lok Sabha bypoll in the state, and voters in Kairana, Uttar Pradesh, defeated their chief minister, BJP’s Yogi Adityanath.

“The BJP also bit the dust in eight of the nine Assembly constituencies in the country,” the Shiv Sena said in an editorial in its mouthpiece ‘Saamana’. “The BJP has lost the Lok Sabha and Assembly polls across the country. But the victory in Palghar (LS constituency) is a result of (BJP’s) ‘alliance’ with the Election Commission,” it said. In Palghar, which was a difficult seat to win, the BJP adopted the policy of ‘saam-daamdand-bhed’ (winning by hook or crook), it said.

BJP's Rajendra Gavit, a former Congress leader, won the by-election by garnering 2,72,782 votes. His nearest rival, Shiv Sena's Shrinivas Wanaga, polled 2,43,210 votes.

“The BJP could not find a candidate in Palghar who could suit its Hindutva ideology. Hence a Congress leader (Gavit) was 'purified' and inducted into the party fold. Then they distributed money (among voters) to ensure Gavit’s win,” the Uddhav Thackeray led party alleged.

The party, it added, also distributed liquor among tribal voters. And when all this failed to work, they took help of the Election Commission, the police machinery and the ‘trash-like’ EVMs to make Gavit’s win possible, the Sena said. “In the first four hours of polling, over 100 EVMs stopped functioning, due to which 50,000 to 60,000 voters could not exercise their franchise and returned home. This game plan of making all these voters return home without casting their votes ensured Gavit's win.

“After the polling ended, the EC announced that 46 per cent voting was registered in Palghar. But in the next 12 hours, it changed the figure to 53 per cent. What exactly happened in these 12 hours, which made the figure go up by seven per cent? It was nothing but the outcome of some black magic done overnight,” the saffron party alleged. Accusing “some people” of resorting to communal politics and creating fear among Dalits, Muslims and other minorities, Union minister Nitin Gadkari on Friday said a “disinformation” is being spread that the BJP is trying to change the Constitution.

Sometimes, communal issues are raked up. For some people, fear is the capital. They play communal politics by spreading venom of communalism in society, and by doing this such people create fear among Dalits, Muslims and minorities," Gadkari said. In an apparent reference to the caste violence in Bhima-Koregaon village near here in January, Gadkari said Pune was a “fine example” of this divisive trend.

“A disinformation is being spread that we are changing the Constitution of India written by Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar. But it was the Congress which altered the Constitution 72 times,” the senior minister said.

Attacking the Congress, he said: “During the Emergency (1975-77), they altered it and now they are talking against us.” The minister for road transport and highways, water resources and Ganga rejuvenation said one should not politicise development works. Addressing a press conference to highlight the Modi government's achievements in the past four years, the BJP leader also took potshots at opposition parties over the issue of electronic voting machines.

The BJP could not find a candidate in Palghar who could suit its Hindutva ideology. Hence a Cong leader (Gavit) was 'purified' and inducted into the party fold - Sena