Mumbai, Jan 5 (PTI) The BJP-led Mahayuti’s greed for power has reached the point of “swallowing democracy”, Maharashtra Congress chief Harshwardhav Sapkal said on Monday amid a fierce debate over unopposed wins of 68 candidates of the ruling alliance even before voting for the January 15 civic polls.
The Devendra Fadnavis government is undermining democracy by using pressure, threats and money power to force uncontested victories in municipal polls, he said at a press conference here.
“The principle of free and fair elections has been severely compromised in the ongoing civic elections. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Deputy Chief Ministers Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar have wrapped up democracy. A blatant money game is underway even before polling. The hunger for power of the BJP-led Mahayuti has reached the point of swallowing democracy,” Sapkal alleged.
In order to win unopposed, leaders of ruling parties are even preventing opposition candidates to file nomination forms with the help of police and the civic administration, he further claimed.
The Election Commission is a mute spectator while such developments are afoot, the Congress leader added.
Stressing that elections are not new to India’s democratic tradition, Sapkal said opposition parties also have equal importance in a healthy democracy.
He cited former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru’s cabinet, which included ministers from non-Congress parties, as an example of democratic values and tradition.
“Voters should be given the option to use ‘None of the Above’ (NOTA) even in wards where candidates are elected unopposed, so that citizens can exercise their constitutional right to vote,” Sapkal said.
Sapkal also claimed assembly speaker Rahul Narwekar had damaged the dignity of his constitutional office.
“Holders of constitutional positions such as the speaker are expected to rise above political bias, but Narwekar has failed to do so. Narwekar had earlier weakened the anti-defection law and has now descended to a very low level by misusing his position during municipal elections to benefit his relatives,” Sapkal said.
The Congress leader accused Narwekar of obstructing opposition candidates, issuing threats and misusing authority and demanded that the President of India remove him from the post.
He said the Congress had written to the Election Commission seeking an inquiry into alleged threats to opposition candidates, but the poll body sought evidence.
“CCTV footage from the incident sites is available and complaints of those who were threatened should be recorded and action taken,” he said while alleging the inquiry report so far amounted to mere “wordplay”.
The allegations of opposition parties pertains to wards numbered 225, 226 and 227 in the Colaba constituency, where the kin of Narwekar are in the fray for the January 15 civic polls. Rahul Narwekar’s brother Makrand Narwekar, sister Gauri Shivalkar and sister-in-law Harshita Shivalkar are contesting the civic polls from wards 225, 226 and 227.
Narwekar, the BJP MLA from Colaba in south Mumbai, has dismissed the charges as baseless and politically motivated.
The three parties in the ruling Mahayuti were contesting against each other in civic polls and publicly attacking one another, Sapkal said and asserted it was a “friendly fight” or “sham wrestling”.
“If they are serious about their differences, Ajit Pawar should quit the government, or the BJP should show him the door,” Sapkal said.
Pawar’s Nationalist Congress Party, the BJP and Deputy CM Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena are part of the ruling Mahayuti alliance in the state, but are fighting separately in some of the 29 municipal corporations that will go to polls on January 15.
In his press conferences last week, Pawar had alleged corruption and irregularities in the civic bodies in Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad, both of which were ruled by the BJP between 2017 and 2022 before the appointment of administrators.
He had blamed the civic leadership, a reference to the Bharatiya Janata Party, for the “derailed development” of Pune, the state’s second largest city, and for Pimpri Chinchwad getting debt-ridden despite having “adequate resources”. The NCP and BJP are fighting polls in the two civic bodies, both in Pune district, separately.
The state BJP leadership had asked Pawar to “introspect” before levelling such allegations. PTI MR BNM
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