"Sharad Pawar should accept defeat": M'rashtra BJP chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule

Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], December 8 : Reacting to the "anti-EVM" event of Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) held at Markadwadi village in Solapur district of Maharashtra, the state BJP chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule on Sunday said that Sharad Pawar should accept the defeat handed to the alliance in the recently concluded Assembly polls.
Markadwadi village has become the centre of a campaign against alleged electoral malpractices mounted by the MVA, which is blaming Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) for its rout in the recent elections.
Bawankule further targeted Sharad Pawar on why the Opposition alliance didn't say anything when 31 of their MPs were elected in the Lok Sabha elections.
Speaking to reporters here, Bawankule said, "Sharad Pawar should accept defeat. He suffered a great loss in these elections. The kind of lies they said in elections were all rejected by the people. Pawar Sahab has gone to Markadwadi. It doesn't behove a person of his age to lie. Maharashtra respects him. Several elections have been held in Markadwadi. Several elections have been held on EVM in Maharashtra. But they never rejected elections. They did not say anything when 31 of their people were elected as MPs...Pawar Sahab is running around to save his face in the upcoming local body elections...He knows that MVA is going to lose the upcoming elections. They will lose their deposits too..."
Meanwhile, following notices sent to farmers in Latur, Bawankule alleged that Maharashtra Waqf Board had played "mischief" by forcibly encroached on several properties and registering them under their name. He further urged the central and state governments to investigate this matter strictly.
"Waqf Board has done mischief. A lot of properties are for Hindu deities, for Hindu Trusts, for farmers, but they have forcibly encroached on them and registered them under their name. This should be digitised once again. There should be a clean record. BJP has written to the Centre and State Govt again and again that the mischief done by Waqf Board, the land encroached on by them should be released and for that, the Govt will take strict action...This should be probed. I urge the Centre and State to probe this strictly..." the Maharasthra BJP chief said.
The Maharashtra Assembly Election 2024 witnessed a decisive victory for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Mahayuti alliance, securing a landslide win with 235 seats. The results marked a significant milestone for the BJP, which emerged as the single-largest party with 132 seats.
The Shiv Sena and Nationalist Congress Party also made notable gains, with 57 and 41 seats, respectively.
The Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) suffered a major setback with Congress winning just 16 seats. Its alliance partner, Shiv Sena (UBT), won 20 seats, while the NCP (Sharad Pawar faction) secured only 10 seats.