BJP's victory in Rajya Sabha elections through ‘horse trading,' says Shiv Sena's Sanjay Raut

The counting was held after a high voltage drama that saw the BJP raising an objection to three votes of MVA saying their MLAs violated rules by showing their ballot papers to others.

Published on: Jun 11, 2022, 12:08:53 IST

By HT News Desk

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Senior Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut on Saturday attributed the Bharatiya Janata Party's victory in three Rajya Sabha seats from Maharashtra to horse trading. "The victory [of BJP] was not a mandate," Raut also said. Speaking to reporters, Raut also said that the results do not pose any threat to the ruling coalition Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government.

File photo of Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut.

Maharashtra's ruling alliance of Shiv Sena, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Congress suffered a major setback on Saturday when the rival BJP won three of the six Rajya Sabha seats in the state. Shiv Sena candidate Sanjay Pawar lost the poll in a close battle against the opposition party despite having more votes on paper, while Raut, NCP’s Praful Patel and Congress’ Imran Pratapgarhi won from their respective seats.

The counting was held after a high voltage drama that saw the BJP raising an objection to three votes of MVA saying their MLAs violated rules by showing their ballot papers to others. The Election Commission of India (ECI) declared the vote of a Sena MLA, Suhas Kande, invalid after allegations that he violated the Model Code of Conduct.

The BJP had fielded Dr Anil Bonde, Piyush Goyal and Dhananjay Mahadik from the state. Interestingly, there were seven candidates in the fray for the six seats in the state.

Speaking on the results, Raut claimed that some "went back on their word". "We did not get the three votes from Hitendra Thakur's Bahujan Vikas Aghadi, Sanjay Shinde (Karmala), Shyam Sunder Shinde (Loha) and Devendra Bhuyar," he added.

Raut also said that the party will approach the Bombay high court regarding the Election Commission's decision to invalidate Kande's vote. "Yesterday, we saw how central agencies work under the pressure of the Central government," Raut said.

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Sanjay Raut

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