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Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) allies Shiv Sena (UBT) and the NCP (SP) criticised the Election Commission of India (ECI) on Friday for not announcing the election schedule for Maharashtra along with Haryana and Jammu and Kashmir. They accused the ruling Mahayuti coalition of wanting more time to deceive the people of Maharashtra with false promises.
Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray pointed out that despite the “one nation, one election” rhetoric, the ECI cited security constraints as a reason for not holding simultaneous polls in Maharashtra with J&K and Haryana. He questioned why the ECI skipped announcing Maharashtra’s election schedule, even though the state’s assembly term ends in November.
“What then has changed under the “strong leadership of the BJP” in J&K? Terrors attacks are on the rise, which is a fact. Another reason they give is the “rains” in Maharashtra and therefore they haven’t completed their formalities. Only Maharashtra has monsoons, not other states, as per the election commission. I guess their boss isn’t yet giving them permission to hold elections in Maharashtra,” Aaditya Thackeray wrote in a post on X.
For all that talk of “one nation, one election”, the Entirely Compromised Commission (aka Election commission) states “constraint on security forces” as a reason to not hold elections in Maharashtra, with simultaneous elections in J&K.
What then has changed under the “strong…
— Aaditya Thackeray (@AUThackeray) August 16, 2024
Citing Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Independence Day speech, senior Congress leader Pawan Khera told news agency PTI, “We were expecting that dates for all four Assemblies will be announced because only yesterday we heard the Prime Minister loudly shouting that there should be ‘One Nation, One Election’. Now if they can’t do four Assemblies together, then why do they give these hollow slogans? The expectation of the Congress is that we will win all four, two we will win in October and the other two, we’ll win in December.”
VIDEO | “We were expecting that dates for all four Assemblies will be announced because only yesterday we heard the Prime Minister loudly shouting that there should be ‘One Nation, One Election’. Now if they can’t do four Assemblies together, then why do they give these hollow… pic.twitter.com/TYH0w03G9y
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) August 16, 2024
BJP-Led Mahayuti Coalition Is Trying To Manipulate Timing Of Assembly: NCP
NCP (SP) spokesperson Clyde Crasto argued that the BJP-led Mahayuti coalition is using the ECI to buy time and deceive voters with promises of schemes and freebies they can’t fulfill.
Evidence of deceiving the public was evident when Independent Mahayuti-aligned MLA Ravi Rana declared that the state government’s “Ladki Bahin Yojana,” which provides eligible women with a monthly stipend of Rs 1,500, would be refunded if the ruling bloc does not receive the votes of the beneficiaries, according to Crasto.
As per PTI, Crasto emphasised that the ruling coalition, which performed poorly in the recent Lok Sabha elections, is trying to manipulate the timing of the assembly elections, but he believes the people of Maharashtra will see through these tactics and reject them again.
The coalition won 17 of the 48 Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra as against 30 by the opposition MVA, which consists of the Shiv Sena (UBT), the NCP (SP), and the Congress.
Maharashtra Elections: Shiv Sena MP Milind Deora Hits Back At Aaditya Thackeray
In response to Thackeray’s comments, Shiv Sena Rajya Sabha MP Milind Deora criticised him for undermining the democratic process in J&K and called his statements reckless.
The terms of the Haryana and Maharashtra assemblies end on November 3 and November 26, respectively. While, the tenure of the Jharkhand house concludes on January 5, 2025. The election in J&K is being conducted in full compliance with a Supreme Court directive, he underscored.
Although the Supreme Court upheld the Centre’s decision to remove Jammu and Kashmir’s special status, it also ordered assembly elections to be held in the former state by September 30.
Deora noted that the Maharashtra assembly still has over three months left in its term, giving the ECI ample time to organise the elections as per norms. He asserted that the Mahayuti was fully prepared for the elections and urged Thackeray to respect the law and democracy.
The ECI had earlier in the day announced single-round voting in Haryana in September and October, as well as three-phase polls in J&K. Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar announced at a press conference in New Delhi that the assembly elections in Maharashtra, which were held in 2019 alongside Haryana, will take place later because of Jammu and Kashmir’s security needs.
