Oppn pushes anti-EVM stand, boycotts special assembly session on first day

The opposition boycotted the first day of the special session of the Maharashtra assembly on Saturday, stepping up its campaign against the alleged manipulation of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) during the recent assembly elections.

A three-day special session of the assembly was convened to administer the oath of office to newly elected MLAs and to elect the Speaker of the House.

As pro-tem speaker Kalidas Kolambkar began administering the oath to BJP’s Chainsukh Sancheti, MLAs from the Shiv Sena (UBT) and Nationalist Congress Party (SP) walked out in protest.

The Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) has blamed the recent landslide win of the Mahayuti alliance on alleged manipulation of EVMs. They have also criticised the government for using force to shut down a mock re-election via ballot papers in Markadwadi village in Solapur district, which was meant to question the authenticity of EVMs.

The Mahayuti has described the boycott as an “insult to democracy”. Former chief minister and BJP Rajya Sabha MP Ashok Chavan remarked, “It is ridiculous that they are boycotting their own oath-taking ceremony. It shows how directionless they are, and that they have not recovered from the shock (defeat in the polls).”

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Nevertheless, the MVA is going ahead with its anti-EVM campaign – but not without a fumble. It seems, the Congress had failed to communicate its intention to boycott Saturday’s swearing-in to its allies.

As a result, Congress MLAs did not attend the special session, leaving MLAs from the Sena (UBT) and NCP (SP) no choice but to walk out after the session had begun.

After the protest, opposition MLAs paid their respects to Chhatrapati Shivaji at a statue of the Maratha warrior king on the Vidhan Bhavan premises. Here, they made it clear they were registering their protest against the use of EVMs.

Bhaskar Jadhav, leader of the Sena (UBT) in the assembly, said they were not against taking the oath, per se and had decided to stay away only on Saturday.

“We all know the Mahayuti’s mandate is not a people’s mandate and that they achieved the feat with the help of EVMs. We have decided not to take oath on the first day as a mark of protest,” Jadhav told the media.

Further explaining their stand, Sena (UBT) MLA, Aaditya Thackeray, said, “Despite all the doubts being raised against EVMs, the voice of Markadwadi village was suppressed by not allowing them to conduct a mock re-election on ballot paper.”

The MVA was initially undecided on whether to boycott only Saturday’s proceedings in the House, or stay away on all three days. The Congress wanted a blanket boycott, believing it would give their campaign some heft, but the Sena (UBT) and NCP (SP) leadership opposed the idea.

“It is necessary for the MLAs to take oath as the people’s representatives. A complete boycott is extreme and could turn counter-productive,” said a Sena (UBT) MLA, wishing to remain anonymous.

Senior leaders from the Congress and NCP (SP) met Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray at his Matoshree residence in the afternoon to discuss strategy.

They included state Congress president Nana Patole and NCP (SP) group leader Jitendra Awhad. The Congress was finally persuaded to drop the idea of a total boycott. It was decided that opposition MLAs would take oath on Sunday.

Condemning the opposition’s action, chief minister Devendra Fadnavis said, “It is an insult to democracy. It is also an insult to those who elected them as MLAs.”

Undeterred by the criticism, Uttam Jankar (NCP-SP), the newly elected MLA from Malshiras, an assembly constituency that includes Makarwadi village, challenged the Election Commission to declare a re-election via paper ballot in his constituency.

Although Jankar won the Malshiras seat, he and the Makarwadi villagers point out that the election result in the village was contrary to their traditional voting pattern, which had always supported Jankar.

He said he was prepared to resign to face re-election. Maharashtra Congress president and MLA, Nana Patole, and Sena (UBT) MLA, Sunil Raut, too said they would resign in favour of such a re-poll.

READ | EVMs a curse to India’s democracy: Sanjay Raut

Continuing their anti-EVM campaign, NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar and his party’s state president Jayant Patil are set to visit Makarwadi village, to discuss the next line of action on Sunday.

Leaders from the state Congress have also sought an appointment with Congress leader and Rahul Gandhi, who is also leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha, requesting him to plan a campaign from Markadwadi village.

Meanwhile, on Saturday, 173 newly elected MLAs were administered the oath of office, among them Fadnavis, deputy chief ministers Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar, all the Mahayuti women MLAs, among others.

The swearing-in is expected to be completed on Sunday. On Monday, the state assembly will elect its new speaker. While the BJP is likely to re-nominate Rahul Narvekar for the position, the opposition is yet to decide on whether or not they will nominate a candidate for the post.