Fadnavis reminds Congress of ‘unopposed’ victories of its candidates to Lok Sabha

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis criticised Opposition parties on Tuesday for protesting against BJP-led Mahayuti candidates winning “unopposed” even before municipal corporation elections scheduled to be held on January 15.

Addressing an election-related event in the Dhule district on Tuesday, he said, “Now that our corporators have won unopposed, some people have started crying. ‘Tumko mirchi lagi to mai kya karu? (What can I do if it troubles you?). During Congress rule, 35 candidates elected unopposed to the Lok Sabha, of them, 33 were from the Congress. So, where are those who cry hoarse? Was democracy alive when MPs won unopposed to the Lok Sabha and democracy got murdered after people in Dhule made four corporators win unopposed?”

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Fadnavis made the statement shortly after former Maharashtra Chief Minister and senior Congress leader Prithviraj Chavan, Sharad Pawar-led NCP Lok Sabha MP Supriya Sule, who is also the working president of her party as well as the Maharashtra unit of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), demanded a thorough investigation by the Maharashtra State Election Commission into the “unopposed victories” of 68 candidates belonging to the BJP-led Mahayuti, even before municipal elections are held, on January 15.

“There is uproar everywhere regarding so-called unopposed victories of BJP-led Mahayuti candidates. Opposition parties have raised objections to the unopposed victories. Hence, the Maharashtra State Election Commission is duty bound to thoroughly investigate allegations about threats and bribery which facilitated unopposed victories of some candidates. I have already demanded countermanding of municipal corporation elections in Colaba, where opposition candidates were threatened (by Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Rahul Narvekar) and video of that incident went viral. Similarly, there is also a need to probe how so many candidates have won unopposed,” Chavan said.

Supriya Sule said, “What is going on is a threat to democracy. So many candidates getting elected unopposed is unimaginable, regardless of whichever political party they represent. The Maharashtra State Election Commission should immediately launch a thorough investigation. Merely asking municipal commissioners to send a report will not bring out the facts. A thorough probe is needed to restore public faith in the election process”.

AAP spokesperson Mukund Kirdat raised objections to the “unopposed victory” of BJP candidate Ravi Landge from the Bhosari ward of the Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC). “It has come to light that 68 candidates won unopposed. When such a huge number of candidates are in the fray and there was so much enthusiasm among them to contest municipal corporation elections, it is impossible to believe that they all withdrew their candidatures willingly and voluntarily on their own, without any pressure. Either they succumbed to threats to withdraw their candidatures or they were offered huge sums of money. Now, it is up to the Maharashtra State Election Commission to prove that polls are free and fair,” he said.

“The mobile phone records of all candidates who withdrew their candidatures must be scrutinised and their bank accounts must also be checked to find out the truth regarding such unopposed victories,” he demanded.