Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut criticized the central government regarding the conduct of the election process and questioned the delay in announcing the election schedule for Maharashtra and Jharkhand, where elections are due this year.
The Election Commission of India (ECI) announced on August 16 the schedule for elections in Haryana and the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, which will be held from September 18 to October 1.
“You must have seen news coming from Jharkhand. They are trying to put Hemant Soren in trouble. They are trying to poach JMM MLAs. Had elections been announced in Jharkhand, the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) would have been implemented in the state, and such things would not have happened. Even in Maharashtra, they wanted to give more time to the trio (Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Ministers), which is why elections were not announced for the state,” Sanjay Raut said.
“On one hand, they talk about one nation, one election; on the other, they cannot conduct elections in four states simultaneously,” he added.
Further, Raut emphasized the collaborative efforts of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) coalition, which includes Shiv Sena (UBT), the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP-SCP), and the Congress Party, to challenge the existing state government.
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On party chief Uddhav Thackeray’s push for a Chief Ministerial candidate announcement ahead of the upcoming assembly elections, Raut highlighted that the choice of the Chief Ministerial candidate significantly influences public opinion.
“Uddhav Thackeray spoke with the same aim; whoever is nominated as the CM candidate, we will support him. People change their opinion based on the CM candidate. Had Rahul Gandhi been declared the PM candidate on time, then we (the INDIA bloc) would have won 25 to 30 more seats in the Lok Sabha Elections,” Raut said while speaking to reporters on Sunday.
Uddhav Thackeray earlier said that he does not support the idea of the party with the maximum number of MLAs getting the Chief Minister post. “The Election Commission should announce the elections for Maharashtra today; we are prepared. We will contest elections together as Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi. We will decide whom to make Chief Minister. Prithviraj Chavan and Pawar Saheb are here, and you may announce anyone as a CM candidate. I will support that name,” Uddhav Thackeray said.
Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Rajiv Kumar on Friday said that the high demand for security forces in Jammu and Kashmir is the primary reason for not holding elections in Maharashtra.
“Last time, Maharashtra and Haryana Assembly elections were held together. At that time, J-K was not a factor, but this time there are four elections this year and a fifth election immediately after: J-K, Haryana, Maharashtra, Jharkhand, and Delhi. Depending on the requirement of forces, we have decided to conduct two elections together. We cannot announce another election in the middle of the Jammu and Kashmir elections,” CEC Rajiv Kumar said.
(WITH INPUTS FROM ANI)
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