In the recently conducted municipal elections, rigged voting, intimidation, and blatant violations of all norms took place. A shocking incident has come to light in the Salekasa Nagar Panchayat of Gondia district, where, after voting had concluded, the seals of 17 EVMs were broken, and voting was conducted again. However, no first information report (FIR) has been registered yet. All these incidents amount to undermining democracy, alleged Harshvardhan Sapkal, president, Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee.
Speaking to the media at Tilak Bhavan, Sapkal further said that elections to local bodies are being held in the state after 10 years, following the Supreme Court order. But in these elections, the ruling party, the administration, and the Election Commission have made a mockery of the election process. The Congress has consistently focused on improving the electoral process and continues to raise its voice against electoral malpractices and the chaos in voter lists, but no improvements are visible.
The EC must finally open its eyes. The Commission needs a firm and decisive election commissioner like T.N. Seshan. Regarding electoral malpractices, the Congress Party has organised a major nationwide rally in Delhi on December 14, Sapkal said.
Sapkal then addressed the issue of farmers' grievances, saying that from May to October, rain wreaked havoc across the state. Crops were washed away, farmlands were eroded, the entire season was lost, and farmers suffered immense losses. The government announced a package of Rs 33,000 crore, but no one knows who actually received it. No compensation proposal was sent to the Central government. Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan exposed the Maharashtra government’s failure in the Lok Sabha. It was the Union agriculture minister who stated that the Maharashtra government had not sent any proposal, clearly proving once again how much the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Mahayuti government and Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis lie. No funds were brought from the Centre, nor was any proposal sent, because the BJP–Mahayuti government has no intention of helping farmers, Sapkal said.
He said that the BJP–Mahayuti government is completing one year in power. The government that came to power through electoral malpractices has fallen into intellectual and financial bankruptcy in just one year. When they came to power, they promised Rs 2,100 to their beloved sisters, a farm loan waiver, and job recruitments. But the Mahayuti government seems to have forgotten all of this. Instead, the state has been handed over to the Koyta gangs, cash-for-favour deals, 'Aakas', sand mafias, and drug mafias. The government has created rifts among castes and religions, and a spectacle of “throw money, watch the show” is in full swing, said Congress state president Harshvardhan Sapkal.
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He stressed that in the Mundhwa land purchase corruption case in Pune, Sheetal Tejwani, who was arrested, was clearly a scapegoat. No action has been taken against Parth Pawar, Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar's son and owner of the land-purchasing company involved in the case. No action will be taken against him, Sapkal said.
He also said that for the upcoming Kumbh mela in Nashik, hundreds of trees have been felled in Tapovan. This is an act of adharma. It is said that Lord Ram, Mata Sita, and Lakshman resided in this very Tapovan. By cutting down trees in this sacred forest, the BJP–Mahayuti government is destroying the state’s spiritual heritage, which is nothing short of adharma, said Congress state president Harshvardhan Sapkal.
