In a sensational claim regarding the 2024 Maharashtra assembly elections, Sharad Pawar, the leading figure of the Nationalist Congress Party (Sharad Pawar faction), made a revealing statement on Saturday. He mentioned that during his stay in Delhi, two individuals approached him asserting that they could secure 160 out of the 288 seats for opposition parties. He disclosed this information during a media briefing in Nagpur.
He informed that Congress MP Rahul Gandhi was made aware of this claim and introduced to these individuals. However, Rahul chose to disregard such assurances, advising instead that focus should be directed towards reaching out to the public directly.
This revelation by Sharad Pawar comes at a time when Rahul Gandhi accuses the Election Commission of vote tampering.
Pawar claimed he did not take these individuals' statements seriously and so did not retain their names or contact details.
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The Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Devendra Fadnavis, questioned Sharad Pawar's statement, asking, 'Why is Pawar disclosing this after Rahul Gandhi's allegations? Initially, he did not support Gandhi's claims of EVM manipulation. In India, regardless of the circumstances, elections are free and fair... Gandhi tells stories that seem like Salim-Javed scripts, and Pawar's comments appear to be part of the same script.'
For context, during the Maharashtra assembly elections, the BJP won 132 seats, while allies Shiv Sena and NCP secured 57 and 41 seats respectively. Following BJP's electoral victory, Devendra Fadnavis was appointed as Chief Minister.
