Mumbai: Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut on Sunday claimed that the BJP won more than 100 seats by the margin of 500 to 1500 votes in the recently concluded Lok Sabha election because BJP leaders pressurised the election machinery in the counting process. Mr. Raut said that Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde has been purchasing the teachers’ votes for legislative council elections like shares in security markets. The Shiv Sena leader said that the Election Commission of India (ECI) is responsible for the mess in the election.
At present, Maharashtra is witnessing the Legislative Council election for two seats each from the graduates' constituency (Mumbai and Konkan) and the teachers' constituency (Mumbai and Nashik), which will go to polls on June 26.
Shiv Sena leader Sushma Andhare alleged that Shinde-led Shiv Sena distributed cash in Nashik amongst teachers and non-teaching staff. She also tweeted a video of the distribution of the cash.
Referring to the cash distribution allegations, Mr. Raut, who is also a member of Rajya Sabha, said that the CM had come to Nashik and everyone knows why he came. “Teachers are being priced like (shares) in the stock market. Don't buy teachers, don't break tradition,” he said.
“The ECI is watching adultery (in elections) with open eyes. Democracy is being murdered. This ECI is acting like Dhritarashtra,” the Shiv Sena leader added.
Mr. Raut, who is an executive editor in Shiv Sena (UBT) mouthpiece Saamana, wrote in his weekly column 'Rokhthok' that the ECI’s conduct in the general election of 2024 was completely biased. “The BJP would have stopped at 110 to 120 seats. Due to the bias of the ECI, these seats have reached 240. Modi would not have become the Prime Minister if the ECI is responsible for all this,” the column reads.
It also pointed out that the results of the country were carefully analyzed, the BJP won about 130 seats by a margin of 500 to 1000 votes. “This victory is doubtful. There were scams (malpractices) in the last round of counting in the seats, which were won by a small margin. Amit Shah was paying special attention to such seats,” he wrote in the column.
