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Amid NCP crisis, Rohit Pawar says ‘Lok Sabha elections could be held in December because…’
Rohit Pawar claimed that some Maharashtra officials were recently instructed to start repairing and manufacturing electronic voting machines (EVMs).
Rohit Pawar, Nationalist Congress Party MLA and grandnephew of party chief Sharad Pawar, believes the Lok Sabha elections could be held as early as December 2023, claiming that some Maharashtra officials were recently instructed to start repairing and manufacturing electronic voting machines (EVMs).
Speaking on the current Maharashtra political situation, Rohit Pawar said, “The checking reports of EVMs are taken five-six months before the Lok Sabha or state elections, and four days, ago some Maharashtra officials have been instructed to start repairing and manufacturing EVMs.”
"This is an indication that Lok Sabha elections can be conducted in December 2023. This is happening because of Bharatiya Janata Party's loss in the Karnataka election as the same can happen in Madhya Pradesh, Haryana and other states. The BJP tried to break the NCP and Shiv Sena keeping in mind the forthcoming elections," the NCP MLA told news agency ANI.
Rohit Pawar's comments come shortly before Sharad Pawar's NCP faction was set to hold a meeting with its MLAs in Mumbai on Wednesday, while the rival group headed by Maharashtra deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar has also called a separate meeting of party legislators.
The one-line whip issued on Tuesday by Jitendra Awhad, chief whip of the Sharad Pawar-led NCP, said the meeting has been called by Sharad Pawar at 1 pm at YB Chavan Centre on July 5, and the presence of all MLAs is mandatory.
Pawar senior named Awhad as chief whip after nephew Ajit Pawar joined the Shiv Sena-BJP government with eight other MLAs on Sunday. The Ajit Pawar camp also issued a notice on Tuesday to all current and former legislators, parliamentarians, office-bearers, working committee members and others, asking them to attend a meeting convened by Sunil Tatkare, the Maharashtra unit president appointed by the group, at the MET institute's premises in suburban Bandra on Wednesday. The notice was issued by Shivajirao Garje, who has been expelled by the Sharad Pawar-led party for "indulging in anti-party activities".
The Ajit Pawar camp has asked Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar to disqualify state NCP president Jayant Patil and Jitendra Awhad as MLAs.
