Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sunil Raut has expressed his intention to resign, citing widespread public dissatisfaction and distrust in the recent election results in Maharashtra. According to Raut, there is a strong sentiment among the people that the election outcome is questionable due to the use of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs).
Raut claimed that if the elections had been conducted using traditional ballot papers, the Mahavikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance could have secured 50-60 seats. "The entire Mahavikas Aghadi and the people of Maharashtra are upset and distrustful of the outcome. Due to the EVM-based system, people are unhappy," he said.
Despite winning his seat, Raut expressed disappointment over the reduced margin of his victory. "My people expected me to win by a margin of 50-60 thousand votes, but my final victory margin was only 16,000. This disparity has left me disheartened," he explained.
I want to resign because there is a strong sentiment among the people of the country and Maharashtra that the current election result is questionable. The entire Mahavikas Aghadi and the people of Maharashtra are upset and distrustful of the outcome. If the election had been held with ballot papers, Mahavikas Aghadi could have won 50-60 seats. However, due to the current EVM-based system, the people are unhappy. I want to resign because, although my people wanted me to win by a margin of 50-60 thousand votes, my victory margin was only 16,000...." said Raut.
Sunil Raut registered a thumping victory from the Vikhroli assembly seat in the recently concluded assembly elections. Raut mirrored his 2019 and 2014 assembly performances and defeated BJP candidate Suvarna Sahdev Karanje with a margin of 15,526 votes. While Raut secured 66093 votes, the second runner-up candidate (Shiv Sena leader Suvarna Karanje) garnered 50567 votes. Further, the third candidate (MNS leader Vishwajit Shankar Dholam) had to be satisfied with 16813 votes.