Maharashtra: Why Sanjay Raut has blamed former CJI Chandrachud for election rout

Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut has blamed the electronic voting machines (EVMs) as well as former Supreme Court Chief Justice DY Chandrachud for the party's disastrous performance in the Maharashtra Assembly elections.

"EVM has been a big issue in this election. Let this result stay, but conduct the election again with paper ballots, and then show us the same result," Raut said in Mumbai on Sunday (November 24).

The veteran Sena leader's comments come after the Congress-led Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance, which includes the NCP (SP) and Shiv Sena (UBT) ended up with less than 50 seats in the Assembly, giving a mammoth victory to the BJP and its allies.

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Raut blames Chandrachud

Raut also held former CJI Chandrachud responsible for the election outcome.

"All these things that have happened in Maharashtra, Chandrachud is responsible," he said, without elaborating.

In the run up to the elections, Sena leaders had repeatedly slammed the former Supreme Court CJI for not deciding on the petitions over the disqualification of MLAs who had defected from Sena and NCP parties in Maharashtra.

Raut claimed that by not deciding on the disqualification petitions, Chandrachud kept doors and windows open for defections.

Further, Raut alleged, "He (Chandrachud) has removed the fear of the law from defectors. His name will be written in black letters in history."

Following the split in the undivided Shiv Sena in 2022, the party's faction headed by Uddhav Thackeray filed petitions in the Supreme Court on the disqualification of party MLAs who defected along with Eknath Shinde. The apex court put the onus on the assembly Speaker to decide on the disqualification petitions.

Also read: We will respect people's verdict, will introspect and rebuild NCP (SP): Supriya Sule

EVM manipulation

Meanwhile, several Sena (UBT) leaders accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of EVM manipulation to achieve the majority mark in Maharashtra.

Swara Bhasker, whose husband Fahad Ahmad contested from Anushakti Nagar, said NCP rival Sana Malik was ahead on EVMs that showed 99 per cent battery but behind on EVMs with less battery.

Former chief minister Uddhav Thackery’s son Aaditya Thackeray said it was not clear if the elections were decided by the people’s mandate or by the tampering of the EVMs by the BJP.