Political tensions rose during Maharashtra local body election SEC postponed local body election results, following a Bombay High Court directive for unified counting on December 21. CM Devendra Fadnavis, Congress leader Vijay Wadettiwar and other leaders criticised the decision, alleging misinterpretation of law
CM Fadnavis. File Pic
The ruling and opposition parties in Maharashtra have reacted sharply over the State Election Commission's (SEC) decision to postpone elections. The elections in some of the nagar parishad and nagar panchayat were postponed by the election commission. The Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court moved to issue a directive that mandates a unified counting day for all poll-bound bodies on December 21.
As reported by news agency IANS, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, while accepting the court's judgement and respecting the autonomy of the judiciary and the Election Commission, further voiced strong criticism of the overall process.
The Chief Minister, while hailing the court’s order, said, "I have not yet read the court's verdict, but the decision given by the bench must be accepted by everyone," as cited by news agency IANS.
Fadnavis further added, "I have been observing local body elections for the last 25 to 30 years, but this is the first time that announced elections have been postponed and their results have been pushed back. This method does not seem right," as per IANS.
The Chief Minister also called the situation a "failure of the system", saying that the errors disappoint candidates who have campaigned hard. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had also urged the SEC to reform its process.
While highlighting that the State Election Commission has also "misinterpreted the law", he said, "My view is that the law has been misinterpreted. Postponing all counting for the sake of just 24 places does not seem right to me," as cited by news agency IANS.
While stating that his personal displeasure was with the legal procedure, not the Election Commission itself, CM further said that he respects the decision taken by the judiciary.
On the other hand, the Congress Legislature Party leader Vijay Wadettiwar claimed that the elections have been disrupted, and the elections in the state have turned into child's play.
Congress leader Wadettiwar said that "the state government and the Election Commission are responsible for this, as the Supreme Court's verdict has been misinterpreted. The government wanted to show that it has given 27 per cent reservation to OBCs -- what direction is this government working in? Tomorrow's vote counting has been postponed to December 21.”
He further added that, “The Fadnavis government is responsible for this; creating obstacles in the vote counting means delaying the elections, using money -- in fact, isn't this a form of vote theft? Seeing that the results won't be in its favour, is it trying to manipulate the election results? Democracy is being strangled," as cited by news agency IANS.
Moreover, the Shiv Sena-UBT Chief Uddhav Thackeray sarcastically said, "It is better not to speak about the Election Commission and the court."
Maharashtra Revenue Minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule, while heavily criticising the state election commission, said that SEC's move was a "massive mess" and the decision is "incomprehensible".
Bawankule highlighted, "The State Election Commission has created a massive mess. They did not listen even after we spoke according to the rules," as cited by news agency IANS.
(With inputs from IANS)
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