Maharashtra Assembly Elections 2024 | Ex-BJP ally RSP joins opposition chorus, blames EVMs for defeat in polls

Mumbai: The Rashtriya Samaj Paksha (RSP), a former ally of the BJP-led Maha Yuti, on Saturday joined the opposition parties in raising doubts about the electronic voting machines (EVMs) in the recently held Maharashtra elections.

RSP chief Mahadev Jankar alleged that his party's votes were transferred to Mahayuti candidates during the November 20 polls, which saw the ruling alliance record a landslide victory.

The Maha Yuti, comprising the BJP, Shiv Sena and NCP, won 230 out of 288 seats, while the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) bagged 46 seats. Following the poll drubbing, the opposition parties have alleged irregularities in the functioning of EVMs and called for the use of ballot papers.

Talking to PTI, Jankar said, "EVMs can be hacked. I am also an engineer. If democracy has to be kept alive, we need to switch to paper ballots." He also alleged that the RSP votes got transferred to Mahayuti candidates.

Jankar claimed Sunil Bandgar, the party's candidate from the Akkalkot assembly seat, got zero votes from his village and questioned how the candidate could not get his own vote.

Bandgar received just 1,312 votes.

As per the seat-sharing arrangement for the assembly polls, the BJP had left the Gangakhed seat for the RSP, but the party rejected the alliance. It fielded 93 candidates and won one seat.

Jankar had contested the Parbhani Lok Sabha seat as part of the NDA.

Maharashtra Assembly poll 2024 results | Check constituency results here

Jharkhand Assembly poll 2024 results | Check constituency results here

Bypoll 2024 results | Check Karnataka results here

Assembly Elections 2024 | The Maharashtra Assembly polls took place against the backdrop of a fractured political landscape in the western state where the Shiv Sena and NCP went up against the Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar factions, even as the BJP and Congress tried to make their mark. Maha Yuti are currently comfortably poised to win. Meanwhile, in Jharkhand, the JMM faced a challenge after Hemant Soren's arrest and Champai, a longstanding party member, joining the BJP, but look set to retain power with its I.N.D.I.A. allies. Check live updates and track the latest coverage, live news, in-depth opinions, and analyses only on Deccan Herald.

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