Congress to hold state-wide protests on Saturday over 'irregularities' in polls

The Maharashtra Congress has announced statewide protests on Saturday 25 January alleging irregularities in the 2024 state assembly elections news agency PTI reported The date coincides with the National Votersrsquo Day NVD which marks the foundation of the Election Commission of India ECI Speaking at a press conference Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee MPCC President Nana Patole said The party will hold protests at the district and taluka levels across Maharashtra on January 25 Key leaders of the party will take part in the protests Patole also accused the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party BJP and the ECI of manipulating votes in the November 2024 Maharashtra Assembly Elections and thereby undermining democracy He added Its conduct in the recent elections has raised serious doubts over its credibility The BJP and its allies won the Maharashtra Assembly election not through honest means but through trickery and deceit Hence our party has decided to hold daylong protests across the state Patole also revealed that Congress leaders from Delhi would visit Maharashtra to interact with the media and shed light on the issue PTI reported In the recent elections the ruling Mahayuti coalition retained power by winning 230 of the 288 assembly seats The BJP secured 132 seats the Shiv Sena 57 and the Nationalist Congress Party NCP 41 Within the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi MVA the Shiv Sena Uddhav Balsaheb Thackeray won 20 seats the Congress 16 and the NCP Sharadchandra Pawar 10 Patole raised concerns over the alleged voter list anomalies stating How did the number of voters increase by 50 lakh within six months of the Lok Sabha elections and how 76 lakh votes were added after 5 pm on the polling day Despite demanding transparency the ECI has not provided any data Now a bill has been passed in the Lok Sabha to restrict sharing of voting details with the common man He was referring to recent amendments preventing public access to electronic election documents including CCTV footage and recordings of candidates which he criticised as a lack of transparency Welcome move to charge cops involved in Badlapur sexual assault caseaccuseds deathPatole welcomed a court order to charge the policemen involved in the custodial death of Akshay Shinde the lone accused in the Badlapur school sexual assault case The magistratersquos inquiry held five officers responsible for Shindersquos death and questioned their claim of acting in selfdefence during a September 2024 encounter Patole also accused the police of brutality in the death of Somnath Suryawanshi during a combing operation According to PTI he criticised Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis for allegedly misleading the assembly by attributing the death to asthma and vowed to bring a privilege motion against him The Maharashtra Congress chief condemned the brutal murder of Santosh Deshmukh a sarpanch in Beed linking it to criminal activities such as extortion and kidnapping in the districtMafia in Beed operates under the protection of a minister While an MLA Member of Legislative Assembly from the ruling party has publicly revealed details about the mafiarsquos activities the governmentrsquos response has been limited to superficial inquiries aimed at securing its position he claimed and further criticised the ongoing infighting among the ruling allies over the allocation of guardian ministerial posts urging CM Fadnavis to address the matter promptly even during his foreign tripAccording to PTI Patole also alleged a Rs 350crore crop insurance scam in Beed accusing insurance companies and government officials of colluding to defraud funds intended for farmers While farmers have not received compensation the companies have profited significantly by looting their funds he said With PTI inputs