Awhad elected NCP (SP) group leader; MLAs raise doubts about EVMs

NCP (SP) legislative party leader to be chosen in a joint meeting of members of the legislative assembly and the legislative council

Mumbai : NCP (SP) leader and Mumbra-Kalwa MLA Jitendra Awhad was on Sunday elected as the group leader of the party in the legislative assembly, while first-time MLA Rohit Patil was elected as the party’s chief whip. Awhad and Patil were elected by nine out of NCP (SP)’s 10 newly elected MLAs in the presence of party chief Sharad Pawar and MP Supriya Sule. The poor performance of the party in the recent polls was discussed at the meeting of the MLAs, with most leaders expressing doubts about electronic voting machines (EVM) and advocating a return to ballot papers, said NCP (SP) state president Jayant Patil.

NCP (SP) state president Jayant Patil (L) addressed the media along with MLA Jitendra Awhad (R). (Anshuman Poyrekar/ Hindustan Times)

“Markadwadi village in Malshiras tehsil has decided to hold its own repoll using ballot papers as villagers have no faith in the poll results,” Patil told reporters after the meeting. Following the declaration of results on November 23, villagers told Uttamrao Jankar, the newly elected NCP (SP) MLA from Malshiras, that they did not trust the figures released by the commission and wanted to hold their own repoll, he said. “The results will be made public once the exercise is complete.”

Among NCP (SP)’s 10 MLAs, Sandip Kshirsagar was absent from the meeting as he had prescheduled functions in his constituency. Other participants expressed concern over the spike in voter turnout in the last two hours of polling and shared instances which raised doubts about the tampering of EVMs, said Patil.

“Our newly elected MLA Raju Khare told us that in his constituency, Mohol, locals nabbed two persons with 14 laptops and other electronic devices from behind the godown where EVMs were stored after polling,” the NCP (SP) state president said. When the duo was taken to the local police station, the officers did not register any case against them, he alleged. “Those two persons were from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. Since they were captured, the EVMs could not be tampered with there and our candidate won,” he said.

Even ruling party MLAs had accepted that the votes they received surprised them, he said, adding, “Looking at the results, the party advocates the use of paper ballots.”

The NCP (SP) legislative party leader will be chosen in a joint meeting of legislators from the legislative assembly and the legislative council, he said.

‘More children will create new problems’

When asked about Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat’s statement urging Hindu families to have at least three children, NCP (SP) state president Jayant Patil said that considering the population of the country, such a ploy would create new problems such as water scarcity and foodgrain shortage.

“NCP leader Ajit Pawar had introduced the bill banning persons having more than two children from contesting local body elections. Now, as Mohan Bhagawat has urged couples to have three children, Ajit Pawar will have to listen to him and withdraw the law,” he said. If he gets an opportunity to meet Bhagwat, he will try to understand the reason behind his statement, he added.