<p>Mumbai: Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray on Friday endorsed Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's allegations of irregularities in the Maharashtra assembly elections, claiming that even the Bharatiya Janata Party did not find its victory believable.</p>.<p>Gandhi, at his press conference in Delhi, "busted the farce" of the BJP-led Mahayuti's majority in the state, he said.</p>.<p>"Just as the Opposition could not believe that its defeat was genuine, the BJP did not find its own victory believable," said Thackeray, speaking at a party program here.</p>.<p>The BJP took a full month to decide the chief minister despite winning a thumping majority, and the ruling coalition is still not able to resolve disputes over the appointment of district guardian ministers, he said.</p>.<p>The BJP won 132 of the 288 seats in the Maharashtra assembly polls held in November 2024, followed by the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena (57) and Ajit Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (41).</p>.<p>On the Opposition's side, the Congress won 16, Shiv Sena (UBT) 20, and NCP (SP) 10 seats.</p>.<p>Thackeray, in his speech, dared Shinde, now a deputy Chief Minister, to try and poach MPs of the Sena (UBT).</p>.Election Commission knows something is wrong with Maharashtra electoral rolls, so not giving us, alleges Rahul Gandhi.<p>"I challenge you to take away even a single Shiv Sena worker without using the police and government machinery and central agencies," said the former chief minister.</p>.<p>Earlier in the day, Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi alleged numerous irregularities in the Maharashtra polls, and claimed there were more registered voters than the entire state's adult population, and more voters were added in five months between the Lok Sabha and state polls than in the five years before that.</p>.<p>If the demand by the state's opposition parties -- Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT) and NCP (SP) -- that the Election Commission provide centralised data of voters' list for the Lok Sabha elections and the assembly polls was not met, the next step would be to approach the judiciary, Gandhi said.</p>.<p>"From where did (additional) voters come? Do you think the murder of democracy is a joke?" Thackeray said at the Mumbai event.</p>.<p>Under normal circumstances, it is not easy to enrol new voters, he further said, questioning the increase in the numbers ahead of the elections.</p>.<p>Countering the BJP's allegation that his faction of the Shiv Sena abandoned Hindutva ideology by allying with the Congress, Thackeray said it was Sena workers who saved Mumbai during the 1992-93 riots.</p>.<p>"Show me one example of Shiv Sena (UBT) abandoning Hindutva," he said.</p>
<p>Mumbai: Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray on Friday endorsed Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's allegations of irregularities in the Maharashtra assembly elections, claiming that even the Bharatiya Janata Party did not find its victory believable.</p>.<p>Gandhi, at his press conference in Delhi, "busted the farce" of the BJP-led Mahayuti's majority in the state, he said.</p>.<p>"Just as the Opposition could not believe that its defeat was genuine, the BJP did not find its own victory believable," said Thackeray, speaking at a party program here.</p>.<p>The BJP took a full month to decide the chief minister despite winning a thumping majority, and the ruling coalition is still not able to resolve disputes over the appointment of district guardian ministers, he said.</p>.<p>The BJP won 132 of the 288 seats in the Maharashtra assembly polls held in November 2024, followed by the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena (57) and Ajit Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (41).</p>.<p>On the Opposition's side, the Congress won 16, Shiv Sena (UBT) 20, and NCP (SP) 10 seats.</p>.<p>Thackeray, in his speech, dared Shinde, now a deputy Chief Minister, to try and poach MPs of the Sena (UBT).</p>.Election Commission knows something is wrong with Maharashtra electoral rolls, so not giving us, alleges Rahul Gandhi.<p>"I challenge you to take away even a single Shiv Sena worker without using the police and government machinery and central agencies," said the former chief minister.</p>.<p>Earlier in the day, Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi alleged numerous irregularities in the Maharashtra polls, and claimed there were more registered voters than the entire state's adult population, and more voters were added in five months between the Lok Sabha and state polls than in the five years before that.</p>.<p>If the demand by the state's opposition parties -- Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT) and NCP (SP) -- that the Election Commission provide centralised data of voters' list for the Lok Sabha elections and the assembly polls was not met, the next step would be to approach the judiciary, Gandhi said.</p>.<p>"From where did (additional) voters come? Do you think the murder of democracy is a joke?" Thackeray said at the Mumbai event.</p>.<p>Under normal circumstances, it is not easy to enrol new voters, he further said, questioning the increase in the numbers ahead of the elections.</p>.<p>Countering the BJP's allegation that his faction of the Shiv Sena abandoned Hindutva ideology by allying with the Congress, Thackeray said it was Sena workers who saved Mumbai during the 1992-93 riots.</p>.<p>"Show me one example of Shiv Sena (UBT) abandoning Hindutva," he said.</p>