He also said that there was nothing surprising in the election results in which a Shiv Sena candidate lost.
“I am not surprised to see the result. MVA candidates get votes in proportion to the number of MLAs. However, one has to accept the miracle in which BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis was able to drive away independent MLAs and people from smaller parties as well, Those who would have otherwise supported the MVA. He was successful in bringing people (independent MLAs) closer to him by using various methods,” Pawar told reporters in Pune.
The NCP leader said the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance of Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress made a valiant attempt to win the sixth seat despite the numbers falling somewhat.
“The MVA made a daring attempt to win the sixth seat despite falling in more or less numbers. The sixth seat was a risk for the MVA, but Maharashtra Chief Minister and Shiv Sena President Uddhav Thackeray took the risk. In politics, one has to take the risk, “They said.
Pawar said the Rajya Sabha elections will not affect the stability of the MVA government in the state. The former Union minister said, “Look at the numbers. The majority required to run the government has not been affected.” He said that there is no threat to the MVA system.
Meanwhile, Pawar’s daughter and NCP leader Supriya Sule congratulated the BJP for their victory. “I congratulate the BJP on their performance. We accept our defeat. We need to clearly introspect what went right and what went wrong. If you look at the numbers, clearly we have till the end. The exact numbers were not there. But we took a chance…,” he said on the Rajya Sabha election result.
Rajya Sabha Election Live Updates
In the voting held on Friday, out of the total six seats in the Rajya Sabha, the BJP had fielded three candidates.
BJP candidates – Union Minister Piyush Goyal, former state ministers Anil Bonde and Dhananjay Mahadik – fought fiercely, while Shiv Sena’s Sanjay Raut, NCP’s Praful Patel and Congress’ Imran Pratapgarhi also emerged victorious. The contest for the sixth seat was between BJP’s Mahadik and Shiv Sena’s Pawar, who lost. Mahadik and Pawar are residents of Kolhapur in western Maharashtra.
After the counting of votes, Sanjay Raut alleged that the Election Commission has favored the BJP. “Our one vote was invalidated by the Election Commission. We opposed two votes but no action was taken on that. The Election Commission supported them (BJP),” he said.
Shiv said, “BJP’s one seat is not a big win. We have seen who was involved in horse-trading. There was no need to disqualify our vote. Shiv Sena and NCP will get two seats each in MLC and Congress one.” Shiv Sena MP added.
Pawar said the quota of first preference votes for Patel (NCP), Pratapgarhi (Congress) and Raut (Shiv Sena) remained intact.
“In fact, Praful Patel got an extra vote from an independent MLA backed by BJP, who voted for Patel after informing me. Independents have worked with me before. That extra vote was from our opponent’s (BJP) quota. , which landed in the bag of the NCP,” said the veteran politician.
“Not a single vote of NCP, Shiv Sena and Congress got affected. All the fun was in the votes of independent MLAs,” he said.
Counting for elections to six Rajya Sabha seats in the state was halted for several hours as the BJP questioned the validity of ballot papers cast by three MVA MLAs, who were accused of violating rules. The MVA also sought the nullification of two votes, one by a BJP MLA and another by an independent. Finally the counting of votes began at 1 pm on Saturday.
Pawar alleged that the objection raised by the BJP to the votes of the three MLAs was “dishonest”. “Voters should show votes to the leadership. They have the right to show votes. So if someone shows votes to Congress president Nana Patole or NCP state unit chief Jayant Patil, there is no illegality in it,” he said. Told.
Asked about Shiv Sena MLA Suhas Kande’s vote being declared invalid, he said he did not know anything about it.
Responding to a question whether the MVA failed to show political maturity in the Rajya Sabha polls, Pawar said politics involves taking risks and that risk was taken by Shiv Sena chief and Uddhav Thackeray.
When asked about the upcoming presidential election, he said the issue has not been discussed yet. “I am going to Delhi tomorrow and we will sit together and discuss it because everyone wants to discuss it together,” he said.
With agency input