Reports that the assembly election will be held in December instead of November have created uneasiness in the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi.
Reacting to the report, which appeared in a section of the media, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut claimed that the Mahayuti government’s Ladki Bahin scheme was meant to influence the voters and the Election Commission’s delay in the announcement of polls was benefiting the ruling party.
According to the report, the election might take place in December, even though the term of the current assembly expires on November 26.
“The Election Commission is a constitutional body. If this institution is under pressure from the prime minister and chief minister, where is the democracy in this country?” Raut asked. “If the elections are held now, the rulers are afraid that they will be defeated,” he alleged.
“The EC has announced assembly elections in Haryana and Jammu & Kashmir but not in Jharkhand and Maharashtra. The ruling party [at the Centre] postponed the Jharkhand election because they wanted to break Hemant Soren’s party. As you have seen, it is being said that Champai Soren will join the BJP. In Maharashtra too, efforts are being made to postpone the election for political gains,” Raut said.
Commenting on the reports, NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar said: “I don’t know if the elections are postponed because of the Ladki Bahin scheme. The question needs to be asked to the Election Commission. In the speech the prime minister gave from the Red Fort on August 15, he proposed ‘One Nation, One Election’. This means that the prime minister insisted that all elections should be held simultaneously. The very next day, elections were announced in Haryana and Jammu & Kashmir. This means that there is no reason to give much importance to what the prime minister says,” he said.
