Seals of 17 EVMs were broken and re-voting conducted in Salekasa Nagar Panchayat, alleges Congress’ Sapkal

Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee President Harshvardhan Sapkal alleged here on Thursday that in the recently conducted municipal elections, bogus voting, intimidation, and blatant violations of all rules 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, he alleged.

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However, no FIR has been registered yet, he said.
All these incidents amount to the stripping of democracy, Sapkal said.
Speaking to the media at Tilak Bhavan, the Congress state president Sapkal said that elections to local self-governing bodies are being held in the state after 10 years following the Supreme Court’s orders.

But in these elections, the ruling party, the administration, and the Election Commission have made a mockery of the election process, he claimed.
Sapkal said that the Congress has consistently focused on improving the electoral process and continues to raise its voice against vote-theft and the chaos in voter lists, but no improvements are visible. The Election Commission must finally open its eyes, he demanded.
Regarding vote-theft, the Congress Party has organised a major nationwide rally in Delhi on December 14, Sapkal said.

He also accued the Maharashtra government for betraying the farmers.
From May to October, rains 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, he alleged.

He further said that union Agriculture Minister Shivrajsinh Chouhan exposed the Maharashtra government’s failure in the Lok Sabha itself. It was the union Agriculture Minister who stated that the Maharashtra government had not sent any proposal, clearly proving once again how much the BJP–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 alleged.