India's democracy in danger like Pakistan, Bangladesh; public doubting poll process: Maharashtra Congress chief

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Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole on Wednesday compared India's democracy with that of Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka and claimed that it was in danger and being discussed at the global level.

Speaking with the media in Nagpur, Patole questioned the Maharashtra Assembly Elections 2024 results and said a "mass movement" is shaping up at Solapur district's Markadwadi village, where residents had raised doubts about electronic voting machines (EVMs) and wanted to conduct a "repoll" using ballot papers.

According to news agency PTI, he said that the voters in many cities and villages have cast aspersions on the victory of the Mahayuti alliance comprising the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Shiv Sena and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), and its subsequent government formation.

Patole accused the Maharashtra Government of "suppressing the voice" of the people of Markadwadi, citing the police case that was filed against several villagers over their plan to conduct a re-election using ballot papers.

The gram sabha in Markadwadi are passing resolutions demanding a repoll through ballot papers, claimed the Congress leader, who retained his Sakoli seat by a margin of a mere 208 votes, PTI reported.

"The democracies in Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka are in danger. Now concerns are being raised that Indian democracy is also in danger and it is being discussed at the international level. The Markadwadi incident is not limited just to Maharashtra. That's why we have been requesting the Election Commission to hold polls as per people's wishes," he said.

Asked if Maharashtra Deputy Chief Ministers Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar were trying to project their respective parties closer to BJP through their speeches after taking oath in the assembly, Patole said, "They do not know BJP yet. Now, they will understand things slowly, may they live happily."

Responding to another question about the leader of the opposition in the state assembly, Patole said that the Maha Vikas Aghadi partners, comprising the Congress, Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) and NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) will finalise a name and pass it on to Speaker Rahul Narwekar.

The ruling BJP-NCP-Shiv Sena alliance won 230 of the 288 seats in the November 20 Maharashtra elections, while MVA was reduced to 46. Since then, the opposition has been questioning the sanctity of the poll process in the state.

(With PTI inputs)