Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar (NCP-SP) chief Sharad Pawar held a meeting with his party’s newly elected MLAs and defeated candidates today following the party’s poor performance in the recent assembly elections. During the meeting, held at Yashwantrao Chavan Center in Mumbai, many candidates expressed their frustration with electronic voting machines (EVMs).
The party's defeated candidates and MLAs collectively argued that the party's defeat was due to widespread malfunctions in the EVMs. After various leaders raised objections regarding the EVMs, it is understood that Sharad Pawar informed the meeting that he would pursue a legal battle over the issue. The NCP-SP has decided to approach the court regarding the complaints received about EVMs in the assembly elections. It is also understood that a team of lawyers will be appointed for this purpose.
After the meeting, MLA Jitendra Awhad said that the party is considering launching a public movement over the EVM issue. He added that they had requested Sharad Pawar to take the lead in this movement.
Awhad, who won the Kalwa-Mumbra constituency by a significant margin, also raised concerns over EVM malfunctions in several other areas. "Although I won by a large margin, there were issues with EVMs in many other places. Elections should be held on ballot papers. If developed countries like the US conduct elections with paper ballots, why shouldn’t we?" Awhad said during a press conference after the meeting.