Grandnephew Rohit joins NCP’S corridors of Pawar If EVMS could be manipulated, BJP wouldn’t lose in 5 states: Ajit
Sharad Pawar’s kin seen accompanying him on tour of state’s drought-hit areas
he said.
A senior NCP leader said Rohit may contest the coming Assembly elections from Pune or Ahmednagar district, if the NCP chief gives him a go-ahead. “I am interested in contesting the Assembly elections. My name is being mentioned in connection with different constituencies in Pune and Ahmednagar districts. It is up to the party leadership to decide whether to field me or not. I will continue to do my work,” he said.
Besides Rohit, there is another member of the third generation of Pawar family who has joined politics. His cousin and Ajit Pawar’s son Parth is contesting the Lok Sabha elections from Maval constituency in Pune district. MUMBAI: Even as his uncle and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar has been raising doubts over electronic voting machines (EVMS), senior party leader and former deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar on Monday contradicted him, using the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) loss in five states to substantiate it.
“There is a sentiment about EVM manipulation, which is not good for a healthy democracy,” Ajit Pawar said, adding, “I have no doubt about EVMS. The BJP wouldn’t have lost the Assembly elections in five states, if EVMS could have been manipulated.”
Last week, in Satara district, Pawar claimed he had seen how a vote cast for his party went to the BJP. “In Hyderabad and Gujarat, some people kept an EVM in front of me and asked me to press a button. I pressed the button against ‘clock’ (NCP’S symbol), but the vote went for ‘lotus’ (BJP symbol),” Pawar had told reporters.
On April 23, Pawar held a joint press conference with Andhra Pradesh chief minister Chandrababu Naidu and leaders from other political parties in Mumbai, where Naidu claimed that EVMS were vulnerable to hacking and malfunctioning, and could be controlled through remote control.
They also demanded 50% of the votes from EVMS be tallied with voter verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT) machines for free and fair elections. The Supreme Court, however, dismissed the plea. VVPAT machines are used for instant verification through a printed slip, which is displayed for a few seconds. However, the slip remains with the Election Commission.