Sapkal alleges irregularities in Maharashtra civic polls
Maharashtra Congress president Harshwardhan Sapkal on Friday alleged large-scale irregularities in the civic body elections and accused the ruling BJP-led alliance of misusing money power and facilitating bogus voting. “There was rampant distribution of money and bogus voting. Despite this, Congress workers stood firmly against the BJP’s bulldozer politics.
This is the victory of our workers’ resolve,” he said and claimed his party will have mayors in five cities and around 350 corporators across the State, asserting it would also be part of power arrangements in at least 10 municipal corporations.
Talking to reporters in Buldhana, Sapkal said while the Congress’s performance in the civic polls may not be fully satisfactory, the party fought an “ideological battle” without compromising its principles and emerged as the principal Opposition force in the State.
“The Congress today stands as the second-largest party in Maharashtra. Wherever possible, we contested independently, and in some places through alliances, with the aim of strengthening the party ideologically and organisationally,” he noted.
Referring specifically to Mumbai, the Congress leader alleged that the BJP’s success in the city civic polls was the result of “fixing”. “From ward delimitation to the use of machines (EVMs) and even issues related to indelible ink, everything was part of fixing. The Election Commission should stop acting at the BJP’s behest,” Sapkal alleged.
