India’s democracy in danger, like Pak, Bangladesh and Lanka; public doubting poll process: Patole

Nagpur: Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole on Wednesday sought to compare India’s democracy with that of Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka and claimed that it was in danger and being discussed at the global level.

Speaking with the media in Nagpur, Patole questioned the Maharashtra assembly poll results and said a “mass movement” is shaping up at Solapur district’s Markadwadi village, where residents had raised doubts about EVMs and wanted to conduct a “repoll” using ballot papers.

He said people in many cities and villages have also cast aspersions on the victory of the Mahayuti alliance of BJP, Shiv Sena and NCP, and its subsequent government formation.

Patole accused the government of suppressing the voice of the people of Markadwadi, referring to a police case against several villagers over their plan to conduct a “re-election” using ballot papers.

Gram sabha are passing resolutions demanding elections on ballot papers, claimed the Congress leader, who retained his Sakoli seat by a margin of only 208 votes.

“The democracies in Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka are in danger. Now concerns are being raised that Indian democracy is also in danger and it is being discussed at the international level. The Markadwadi incident is not limited just to Maharashtra.

“That’s why we have been requesting the Election Commission to hold polls as per people’s wishes,” he said.

Asked if deputy chief ministers Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar were trying to project their respective parties closer to the BJP through their speeches after taking oath in the assembly, Patole said, “They (Shinde and Pawar) do not know BJP yet. Now, they will understand things slowly… may they live happily.” Responding to another question about the leader of the opposition, Patole said Maha Vikas Aghadi partners Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT) and NCP (SP) will finalise a name and pass it on to Speaker Rahul Narwekar.

The ruling BJP-NCP-Shiv Sena alliance won 230 of the 288 seats in the November 20 Maharashtra elections, while MVA was reduced to a collective score of only 46. Since then, the opposition has been questioning the sanctity of the poll process in the state.